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AN 

Historical Address, 

^Centennial anD Centennial, 

delivered at groton, massachusetts, 
July 4, 1876. 

BY 

SAMUEL A. GREEN, M.D. 



[Second Edition.] 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



Groton Burned by the Indians, 1676. 
Declaration of Independence, 177^* 



AN 



Historical Address, 

^Centennial antr Centennial, 
Delivered at Groton, Massachusetts, 

Oft 

July 4, 1876, 
by request of the citizens. 



BY 

SAMUEL ABBOTT GREEN, 

A NATIVE OF THE TOWN. 



Second IStottion. 




GROTON 

1876. 



^7. 



z 



Cambridge : 
Press of John Wilson and Son. 



TO 
THE INHABITANTS OF GROTON, 

AND TO 
THE NATIVES OF THE TOWN LIVING ELSEWHERE, 

A WILLING TASK, IMPERFECTLY DONE, IS RESPECTFULLY 

INSCRIBED BY 

THE WRITER. 



The superior figures scattered through the Address refer to 
the Appendix. 



HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 



The first century of our national existence is completed 
this day, and we meet to commemorate the event. A 
hundred years have passed away since the Declaration of 
Independence was adopted and a nation was born, that is 
destined to flourish as long as piety, religion, and morality 
shall prevail in the land, and no longer. Modern times 
have been full of great deeds ; but none of them is greater 
than that which declared the American colonies to be free, 
and put them in the rank of independent nations. The 
rapid development of the United States during this hundred 
years has been watched by thoughtful men throughout the 
world, — by some with jealousy, by others with sympathy; 
and their success has made them an example for other coun- 
tries to follow. They have stood the test of a century ; and 
to-day, throughout the land, the great birthday of the nation 
is commemorating with joy and exultation never before 
equalled. 

The question may occur, Why is this notice taken of a 
century? Why is a celebration more fitting now than next 
year or last year? It is because there is a tendency in the 
human mind to divide time into round periods. At the end 
of a century comes a stopping-place, from which to look 
back upon any event that marked its beginning. In our 
decimal notation, the number ten plays an important part, 
and is a kind of unit. Originally connected in meaning 



8 

with the fingers of the hand, a hundred, in its primitive sig- 
nification as well as numerically ten tens, is a large unit, — 
a natural division of duration. If man had been endowed 
by Nature with six fingers on each hand, we should now 
have a duodecimal system of numbers instead of a decimal 
system ; and it would seem just as easy and natural. This 
tendency in the human mind is strikingly illustrated by the 
last census returns of the city of Boston. The number of 
its inhabitants who gave their ages as just forty-five is more 
than twice as large as the number of those who were just 
forty-four or just forty-six. The number of those who were 
just fifty is more than three times as great as the number of 
those who were just forty-nine, and about five times as many 
as the number of those who were just fifty-one. According 
to these returns, there are nearly twice as many persons 
who are fifty-five as either fifty-four or fifty-six ; and there 
are four times as many who are sixty as either fifty-nine 
or sixty-one. The tens have a stronger attraction than the 
fives, and these, in their turn, than the other numbers. 
This example, besides showing the untrustworthy character, 
in some respects, of the census returns, — a point not now 
to my purpose, — shows how widely pervading is the feeling 
about round periods ; and in this universal feeling is found 
the answer to the question, why we have the celebration at 
this time. 

The present year has also a bi-centennial anniversary that 
brings us together. It was in the year 1676 that this town 
was destroyed by the Indians, and the inhabitants, with all 
their available effects, were forced to leave it. A contempo- 
raneous account of the removal says that there were sixty 
carts required for the work, and that they extended along 
the road for more than two miles. It was a sorry sight to 
see this little community leaving their homes, which they 
had first established twenty-one years before. What bitter 
pangs they must have felt, and how dark their future must 
have seemed, as they turned to look for the last time at famil- 
iar places, — their rude but comfortable homes, their humble 
meeting-house, and the graves of their kindred whom they 



had tenderly laid in God's acre, yonder burying-place ! As 
they made their way along the rough and muddy roads, the 
hearts of all were heavy with grief; and the mothers' eyes 
were dimmed with tears, as the thoughts of their blighted 
prospects filled their minds, for no one could see the end of 
their misfortunes. Their bitter experiences, however, af- 
fected more than one generation. Fortitude is the logical 
result of hardships : brave parents will breed brave chil- 
dren. Our fathers little thought that these trials were mak- 
ing them the ancestry of a strong people, who themselves, 
a century later, were to contend successfully with the strong- 
est power in the world. At this late day we cannot know 
all their sufferings, but we do know that they were a God- 
fearing community ; and on this occasion it is fitting that we 
should commemorate their virtues. They were plain folk, 
with homely traits ; and their best memorial is the simple 
story of their lives. For this reason, I purpose to give a 
plain, unadorned narration of some of the more important 
events with which they were connected from the very begin- 
ning of the town, with a brief account of some of the actors ; 
bringing the narration down through the last century, and 
touching lightly upon the present one. 

In the spring of the year 1655, the township of Groton 
was granted by the General Court to a number of petition- 
ers. It was situated on the frontiers, fourteen miles from 
the nearest settlement ; and at that time there were but eight 
other towns in Middlesex County. What inducements were 
held out to gain settlers for the new town, it is impossible 
now to ascertain. Probably, however, the country in this 
neighborhood had been reconnoitred by adventurous men 
from other settlements ; and it is likely that such persons 
had followed the Indian footpaths, and penetrated to what 
then seemed a great distance into the country. These per- 
sons knew the rivers and the hills, and the lay of the land 
generally ; and, after coming home, they talked about the 
good farming country. It would take but a few years thus 
to establish traditions that might draw a few families to desir- 



IO 

able places. It happened then, as it sometimes happens now, 
that large fires had run through the woods in dry weather, 
and had burned until they were put out by some rain-storm ; 
leaving a track of black desolation that would last for many 
a year. And, moreover, there were small patches that had 
been planted by the Indians with corn, beans, and squashes, 
and therefore ready for cultivation by whosoever should take 
possession of them. In this way, a few places had been 
more or less cleared ; and the wild grasses had caught-in 
sufficiently to furnish fodder to the cattle. This last con- 
sideration was a matter of considerable importance to the 
settlers. In planting towns, it undoubtedly weighed with 
them in selecting the sites. In fact, it is recorded that, 
in some of those early years, feed was so scarce that the 
cattle had to be slaughtered to save them from death by 
hunger. It should be borne in mind that grass was not then 
cultivated as it is now ; nor was it for more than a century 
after this period. In the winter, cattle had to be kept on 
corn-stalks, and the native grasses which the settlers had 
gathered wherever they could ; and it required rigid economy, 
even on these, to keep them till spring. 

It was amid such and other difficulties that our fathers 
founded their settlements. Prompted by interest or enter- 
prise, families would plant themselves in the wilderness and 
make new homes away from neighbors and far from friends. 
As these settlements increased in numbers, they were consti- 
tuted towns without much formality. The only Act of Incor- 
poration of Boston, Dorchester, and Watertown, was an 
order of the General Court " that Trimountain shall be called 
Boston; Mattapan, Dorchester; and the town on Charles 
River, Watertown." 

Towns thus informally established have grown up with 
certain rights and privileges, as well as duties and obliga- 
tions, and have developed into fixed municipal corporations, 
as we find them to-day. They did not spring into existence 
full grown and clothed, like Minerva from the head of Jupi- 
ter, but they have been creatures of slow growth. They 
should be compared rather to the old homestead that has 



II 



been receiving additions and improvements during several 
generations, in order to accommodate the increasing and 
constantly changing family, until finally the humble house 
has expanded into the roomy structure. 

The prominent idea in the minds of the founders of New 
England appears to have been the support of the gospel 
ministry. After this came the management of their political 
affairs and the support of free schools. Captain Edward 
Johnson, in his quaint and instructive book, "Wonder-Work- 
ing Providence of Sion's Saviour, in New England," says 
that it was " as unnatural for a right N. E. man to live with- 
out an able Ministery, as for a Smith to work his iron with- 
out a fire ; therefore this people that went about placing 
down a Town, began the foundation-stone, with earnest 
seeking of the Lord's assistance, by humbling of their souls 
before him in daies of prayer." The College, which was 
established so early in the history of the colony, was dedi- 
cated " to Christ and the Church"; and to the present time 
this motto is kept on the College-seal. 

Mr. Butler, in his "History," says that "the original peti- 
tion for the plantation or town of Groton is not found, or any 
record of it " (page n). Since this statement was made, 
however, one of the petitions — for it seems there were two 
— has been found among the papers of the late Captain 
Samuel Shepley, by Mr. Charles Woolley, formerly of this 
town, but now of Waltham. A copy of it was printed in 
" The New England Historical and Genealogical Register," 
for January, i860 (xiv. 48). It is as follows: — 

" To the honored Generall Courte assembled at Boston the hum- 
ble petion of vs whose names ar here underwritten humbly shoeth 

That where as youre petioners by a prouidence of God haue 
beene brought oner in to this widernes and liued longe here in: 
and being summing straightned for that where by subsistance in 
an ordinarie waie of Gods prouidence is to be had and Considering 
the a lowance that God giues to the sones of men for such an ende : 
youre petioners request therefore is that you would he pleased to 
grant vs a place for a plantation vpon the Riuer that runes from 
Nashaway in to merimake at a place or a boute a place Caled 



12 



petaupauket and wabansconcott and youre petioners shall pray for 

youre happy proseedings 

Willim Martin 
Richard Blood 
John Witt 
Willim Lakin 
Richard Hauen 
Timothy Cooper 
John Lakin 
John Blood 
Mathu Farrington 
Robert Blood" 

On the third page of the document, the decision of the 
General Court is given, which runs thus : — 

" In Ans r to both theise peticons The Court Judgeth it meete to 
graunt the peticon r s eight miles square in the place desired to 
make a Comfortable plantacon wch henceforth shall be Called 
Groaten formerly knowne by the name of Petapawage : that 
M r Danforth of Cambridge w th such as he shall associate to him 
shall and hereby is desired to lay it out with all convenient speede 
that so no Incouragement may be wanting to the Peticone r s for a 
speedy procuring of a godly minister amongst them Provided that 
none shall enjoy any part or porcon of that land by guift from the 
selectmen of that place but such who shall build howses on theire 
Lotts so given them once w'hin eighteene months from the time of 
the said Tounes laying out or Tounes graunt to such persons : and 
for the p r sent M r Deane Winthrop M r Jn° Tinker M r Tho : 
Hinckly Dolor Davis W ra Martin Mathew Farrington John Witt 
and Timothy Couper are Appointed the selectmen for the said 
Towne of Groaten for one two yeares from the time it is lay'd out, 
to lay out and dispose of particular lotts not exceeding twenty 
acres to each howse lott. And to order the prudentiall affaires of 
the place at the end of which time other selectmen shall be chosen 
and appointed in theire roomes, the selectmen of Groaten giving 
M r Danforth such satisfaction for his service & paines as they & 
he shall agree ; 

The magist 8 haue past this with reference to the Consent of 
theire bretheren the depu*s hereto 

Edward Rawson Secrety 

25 May 1655 

The Deputies Consent hereto William Torrey Cleric " 



i3 

A religious temper pervades the whole petition, which in 
its language has the flavor of the Old Testament. It speaks 
of their having been brought over "by a providence of God," 
and of their living long in the wilderness. In answer to it, 
the Court grants a tract of land to make " a comfortable 
plantation," and provides for its survey and prompt location ; 
naming as the chief end the " speedy procuring of a godly 
minister amongst them," and foreshadowing in its action 
some of the features of the modern Homestead Acts of Con- 
gress. From these expressions we may learn the guiding 
thoughts of the first settlers of the town ; and it is a pious 
duty we owe them to commemorate their virtues and their 
deeds. They were men and women in every way worthy of 
all the respect and honor we can pay them ; and I congratu- 
late those of my audience who trace back their family line 
to that stock. The names of Parker, Prescott, and Blood, 
of whom there are so many descendants still among us ; 
of Farnsworth, Lawrence, and Shattuck, names not to be 
omitted in any historical record of the town ; of Gilson, 
Nutting, and Sawtell, worthy forefathers of worthy progeny ; 
of Stone, Moors, and Tarbell, — all these are familiar to you 
as the names of citizens descended from the founders of the 
town ; and there are others equally worthy to be mentioned, 
that will readily suggest themselves. 

Mr. Deane Winthrop, who stands at the head of the list 
of selectmen appointed by the Court, was a son of Governor 
John Winthrop, and it is to him that we are indebted for the 
name of the town. A native of Groton in Old England, it 
was natural for him to wish to keep the name fresh and fra- 
grant on this side of the Atlantic. Groton, in Connecticut — 
younger by half a century, and famous as the scene of the 
heroic Ledyard's death — owes its name to the same family. 
Groton, in New York, was settled, in part, by families from 
this town. New Hampshire and Vermont both have towns 
named Groton, though they are comparatively of recent 
origin. Why they were so called I have been unable to 
find out, unless it was that the fair fame and reputation of 
the one in Massachusetts had made the name auspicious. 



14 

There was a place in Roxbury, a hundred and thirty years 
ago, that was sometimes called Groton.* It was a corrup- 
tion of Greaton, the name of the man who kept the " Grey 
Hound" tavern in the neighborhood. 

The word Groton, the same as the Grotena of Domesday 
Book, probably means Grit-town, or Sand-town, — from the 
Anglo-Saxon, greot, grit, sand, dust; and tun, village or 
town. The locality of the English Groton is in fact a sandy 
one. A proper pride of birth would suggest that the name 
was doubtless also appropriate by reason of the grit or 
pluck, now as well as then, characteristic of the people of 
any town so named. 

Groton, in Suffolk, England, is an ancient place, — there 
being a record in Domesday Book of its population and 
wealth, in some detail, at the time of William the Conqueror, 
and also before him, under the Anglo-Saxon King, Edward 
the Confessor. A literal translation of this census-return of 
seven hundred and ninety years ago is as follows : — 

"In the time of King Edward f saint Edmund held Groton for 
a manor, one carucate \ and a half of land. Always [there were] 
S villeins and 5 bordarii [a rather higher sort of serfs ; cotters]. 
Always [there was] 1 plough in demesne. Always 2 ploughs of 
homagers" [tenants] "and 1 acre of meadow. A mill, for winter. 
Always 1 work-horse and 7 cattle and 16 swine and 30 sheep and 2 
free men of half a carucate of land and they could give and sell their 
land. Seven bordarii. Always 1 plough & 1 acre of meadow" 
[helonging to these 7 bordarii.] " Then " [i.e., under King Edward] 
" it was worth 30 shillings, and now 40. It has in length 7 furlongs 
and 4 in breadth. In the same, 12 free men and they have 1 caru- 
cate and it is worth 20 shillings. All these could give and sell 
their land in the time of King Edward. Saint Edmond has the 

* New England Historical and Genealogical Register, xxiv. 56 note, 60. 

f Some idea of the condensed character of the entries in Domesday 
Book may be gathered from the following transcript of the Latin beginning 
of the account of Groton, in which the matter within the brackets is what 
the Norman scrivener omitted: " Grotena[m] t[empore] r[egis] E[dvardi] 
ten[nitj S[anctus] efdmundus] p[ro] man[erio]," etc. 

% The carucate was a " plough land," and is variously set at from twelve 
to one hundred acres. 



i5 

soc, protection and servitude" [i.e., the lord's legal rights]. "7 
pence of gelt" [i.e., Dane-geld], "but others hold there." 

Such were the census returns, made nearly eight hundred 
years ago, of the place from which our good old name is 
taken, and which on that account will always be of interest 
to us. 

It is curious to note the different ways which our fathers 
had of spelling the name ; and the same persons took little 
or no care to write it uniformly. In those days, they paid 
scarcely any attention to what is now regarded as an impor- 
tant branch of education. Among the documents and papers 
that I have had occasion to consult and use in the preparation 
of this address, I find the word spelled in fourteen differ- 
ent ways; viz., Groton, Grotton, Groten, Grotten, Groaton, 
Groatton, Groaten, Grooton, Grauton, Gravvten, Grawton, 
Growton, Groughton, and Croaton. 

Dictionaries of our language were hardly known at that 
time and there was no standard for spelling ; and it seems as 
if every one spelled according to his feelings at the moment. 
In many cases the odder the form, the better. As an in- 
stance of orthographic license then prevalent, it may be 
mentioned that there are sixty-five different modes in 
which the name of Shakespeare was written. 

Yonder river, familiar to us as the Nashua, is spoken of, 
in a record by Thomas Noyes, in 1659, as the Groaten 
River, and is so called in more than one place. While this 
would have gratified our local pride, I am not sorry that the 
name Nashua was finally kept. It is to be regretted that so 
few of the Indian words have been retained by us to desig- 
nate the rivers and the hills and other localities. However 
much such words may have been twisted and distorted by 
English pronunciation and misapplication, they furnish us 
now with one of the few links that connect us with pre- 
historic times in America. The word Nashua ,* in its ful- 
ness and before it was clipped, meant the land between, and 
referred to the tract on which Lancaster was settled, because 
it was between the branches of the river ; the name, however, 

* Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society, II. ?>?>■ 



i6 



was afterward transferred from the territory to the river 
itself. 

Among the earliest papers at the State House, relating to 
the town, is a request for a brandmark. Joseph Parker 
represents to the Governor and magistrates, in a writing 
dated May 31, 1666, that he has been chosen constable, and 
asks that the letters GR — or monogram, as we should call 
it — be recorded as the brandmark of the town. This was 
wanted probably for marking cattle. " In answer to this mo- 
tion the Deputies approve of y e letter GR to be y e brand 
marke of groaten." 1 

Very soon after the settlement of the town, there was a 
complaint of improper management on the part of the pro- 
prietors, and the General Court appointed a committee to look 
into the subject. This committee visited the place, and re- 
ported on "the entanglements that have obstructed the plant- 
ing thereof," frivinnr at the same time their opinion that there 
was land enough here to furnish subsistence by husbandry to 
sixty families. When we consider that this opinion was the 
result of deliberate calculation, on the part of disinterested men, 
before the town was shorn of its original dimensions, it shows 
the vanity of human prophecy, and should serve as a warning 
to us all to abstain from prediction in regard to a century 
hence. There are now nearly ten thousand persons in the 
territory of the original Groton Plantation, living mainly 
by the products of the land. 

For some years before the destruction of the town, the 
Indians began to threaten the inhabitants. They were 
troublesome neighbors at the best, and their movements 
required careful watching. Some of them were friendly, 
but others were hostile and treacherous. They had already 
acquired the taste for strong drink, and, on more than one 
occasion, drunken brawls and fights, which ended in murder, 
had taken place between them and the settlers. In May, 
1668, Captain Richard Waldron built a trucking or trading 
house at Pennicook, now Concord, New Hampshire, where 
a few weeks afterward Thomas Dickinson was murdered 
by an Indian ; and " rum did it." The affair created great 



i7 

excitement, and it has been supposed that it prevented a 
settlement of the place at that time ; at any rate, none was 
made until 1726. A warrant was issued to the constable of 
Groton to summon John Page, Thomas Tarbell, Jr., Joseph 
Blood, and Robert Parish, all of this town, to appear before 
the General Court at Boston to give their testimony, which 
they did under oath. It appeared in the evidence that there 
had been a drunken row, and that Tohaunto, the chief, de- 
sired them, if they had brought any liquor, to pour it on the 
ground ; for, said he, it will make the Indians " all one 
Divill." From this it would seem that rum in those days 
was about the same as it is now, — no better and no worse, 
— for it still makes people all one devil. 2 

Many of the Indians had now been supplied with fire- 
arms, which made them bold and insolent, and it is not 
strange that the natural tendency of events should have been 
toward open hostilities. We can readily understand how 
the fears of the colonists were excited when they thought of 
their own helpless families and their exposed situation. It 
betokened no cowardice to entertain this feeling, and it was 
the part of wisdom to prepare for the worst. At an early 
day there was a military organization in the town, and 
we find the following order in the Massachusetts Records, 
passed Oct. 15, 1673, in relation to it: — 

" The millitary company of Groaten being distitut of military 
officers, the Court judgeth it meet to choose & appoint James 
Parker to be theire captaine, W m Lakin to be leiftennant, & Na- 
thaniel Lawrence to be their ensigne." 

The thunder of the distant storm now began to be heard, 
and the colonists were asking for protection. They little 
thought that the lightning was to strike so soon and with 
such fatal violence ; but in the providence of God it was 
thus ordained. 

Captain Parker writes to Governor Leverett, under date 
of Aug. 25, 1675, that the inhabitants "are in a very great 
strait," and " are very much discouraged in their spirits " ; 
that they want ammunition and twenty good muskets for 

3 



i8 

their picked men. The letter* itself, with the quaint expres- 
sions of two centuries ago, will give you a better idea of 
their narrow circumstances than any extracts from it; so I 
read it entire : — 

"To the honourd John Leueret Esquir Gouernour of the Massechusets 
collony 

" Honoured Sir with the rest of your counsell I have made bold 
to enform your worships how the case stand with us that the 
Indians are aproachs near to us our scouts have discouerd sev- 
erall tracks very near the habitable parts of the town and one 
Indian they discouerd but escapt from them by Skulking amongst 
the bushes and som of the Inhabitants of our town have heard them 
in the night singing and halloeing. which doe determin to us their 
great height of Insolency : we are in a very great strait our In- 
habitants are very much discouraged in their spirits and theirby 
dissuaded from their callings I have received 20 men from the 
worshipfall Major Willard and Captain Mosselly men to help secur 
our town, but notwithstanding we are in a very weak capacity to 
defend ourselves against the Insolency and potency of the enemy 
if they shold apear in number and with that violenc that they did 
apear at quabog [Brookfield] the which the good lord forbid if it 
be his good pleasur, much honoured and respected the good lord 
be with you In your consultations that you may understand what 
to doe for your new england Israel at such a tim as this and in par- 
ticular ourselves and for our dear neighbours at Lancaster upon 
whom the enemy have made an Inraid 6 persons are already found 
and buryed the 72 which they doe expect is kild is not as yet found 
you may be pleased to tak notice that we shall want ammunition 
spedily by reason that we have parted with som to Cap 1 Mosselly 
men and som we spent in the fight at quabog as also I have sup- 
lyed the souldiers with amunition that were sent to me that was 
Imployed in the service they having spent their ammunition If 
you could help us with 20 good muskets for our pik men and I 
will return them again or else give a valluable price for them in 
such pay as we can produce among ourselves not else at present 
but leave you to the guidance of the God of heaven who is the only 
wise counsellor and remaine 

" Your servant to cofiiand in any service to my power 

"James Parker Cap' 
" from Groten 

August 25 75 " 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxvii. 244. 



J 9 

A few days before the date of this letter, Captain Samuel 
Moseley writes * from " Nashoway Allias Lankaster : i6' h 
Augs 1 1675," that, in accordance with instructions from 
Major-General Dennison, he had sent "12 men to Groat- 
ton." 

In those days, there was no physician in town to offer his 
professional skill to the government in their time of need ; 
and it was necessary to impress into the public service a 
surgeon, as well as a horse and accoutrements, as we find 
from the following order * addressed 

" To the Constable of Boston. 

" These Require you in his Maj 1 ^ name forthwith to Impresse 
M r W m Haukins Chirurgeon : Imediately to prepare himself w th 
materials as Chirurgeon & to dispatch to Marlboro, to Cap* Mosely 
& attend his motion & souldiers at Groaten. or elsewhere : for 
wch End you are also to Impresse an able horse & furniture for 
him to Goe : w th the Post 

"Dated at Boston 17 Augus* 1675 making Return hereof to 

the Secrety 

By y e Council 

" Edw. Rawson Secretv " 

And the constable made the indorsement on the order 
that Dr. Hawkins was duly warned. 

At this time, King Philip's War had begun, and open 
hostilities had alarmed the inhabitants of this place. The 
Council passed an order,* Sept. 8, 1675, that Cornet 
Thomas Brattle and Lieutenant Thomas Henchman should 
take fifty men, of which thirty were to come from Norfolk 
and twenty from Middlesex, and place them in the garrisons 
of Dunstable, Groton, and Lancaster, in such proportions as 
they should deem expedient. They were to place them 
" under the cofnand of the chiefs military officers of each 
towne : giveing those officers direction : to joyne & lyst 
other meet persons of their owne company es with them, & 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxvii. 239, 241, 252. 



20 

order them every day to surround the townes y e y are to se- 
cure ; & if they can to carry doggs with y m to search for & 
discover any enimy that may aproch nere such tovvne & at 
night to repaire unto such corps du gaurd, as are appointed 
to them for the security of the s d place." 

About this time, the question of withdrawing a considera- 
ble force from the garrisons seems to have been considered ; 
but a protest against such action was drawn up and signed 
by Simon Willard and three others, who were probably the 
officers in command. From the representation they made, 
it is not likely that any troops were taken away. 3 

In the autumn (October 27) of this year, the town was 
assessed £11 105. as her rate to carry on the war; and, 
when paid in money, one-quarter to be abated. 

The coming winter must have been a hard one for the 
colonists, not only here but throughout New England. The 
Indians had burned some towns and threatened others, and 
it was a season of distrust and despair. The time was rap- 
idly approaching for this town to suffer, and soon the stroke 
came. They would have been more than human if they 
had not felt despondent at the hard fate that had now be- 
fallen them. They had seen their houses and barns burned, 
and all the results of their labor and thrift destroyed in a 
day. The little meeting-house, rudely constructed but no 
less clear to them, was now a heap of ashes. To-day 
its very site is unknown. Some words of consolation, and 
exhortation to trust in the providence of God, fell from 
the lips of their good pastor, Mr. Willard, as they looked 
tearfully on their ruined homes. He had been their guide 
and teacher during thirteen years ; and much that is inter- 
esting is known concerning him. 

Samuel Willard was born, Jan. 31, 1639-40, at Concord, 
Massachusetts. He was the son of Major Simon Willard, 
at one time an inhabitant of this town, and graduated at 
Harvard College in the year 1659 ; being the only member 
of the class who took his second degree. He came here to 
succeed Mr. John Miller, the first minister of the town, who 
died, June 12, 1663. Mr. Willard began to preach probably 



21 

late in the year 1662, or early in 1663. In the latter year, 
on the twenty-first of some month, — conjectured to be June, 
the words of the records being so worn as to be illegible, — 
it was "voted that Mr. Willard, if he will accept, shall be 
their minister as long as he lives." Against this action 
there were five dissentient votes, which number constituted 
probably one-quarter of all the voters ; and they certainly 
were among the principal and most influential inhabitants of 
the town. Mr. Willard must have been a man of a good 
deal of character to have been settled in spite of this opposi- 
tion, and he seems to have lived it down very successfully. 
His relations with the people were always harmonious ; and 
his salary was gradually increased until it was double the 
original amount. The first year of his ministry, it was fixed 
at forty pounds ; the second year, at fifty pounds ; the third 
and several successive years, at sixty pounds; and finally at 
eighty, part of it being in country pay. This was the old 
expression for paying in produce. And when the salary 
was voted, Oct. 14, 1672, it was reckoned at five shillings a 
bushel for wheat ; four shillings for rye, barley, and peas ; 
with pork and beef at three pence a pound ; "and all such as 
cannot pay his third part of his pay in English corn and 
provisions, they shall pay in Indian corn at two shillings 
per bushel ; and the remainder of his pay in Indian corn at 
three shillings a bushel : his firewood also above his eighty 
pounds. And farther these persons here set down [Ser- 
geant Parker and eleven others] do promise and engage to 
get Mr. Willard's hay, mowing and making and fetching 
home for eight shillings per load, at a seasonable time, viz., 
in the middle of July." 

Mr. Willard was a scholar and writer of considerable note 
in his day, and even now would be considered such. But 
little is known of his early history; and no church-record 
during his ministry in Groton is extant. Coming here in 
the vigor of young manhood, at the age of twenty-three, — 
if we may judge him from the high position he afterward 
attained, — it is fair to assume that he exerted a strong influ- 
ence in this neighborhood. It is probable that his early 



22 

experiences here fitted him for the places of honor and dig- 
nity that he was subsequently called upon to fill. A few- 
weeks after his settlement, he married Abigail Sherman, a 
grand-daughter of Thomas Darcy, Earl of Rivers : and, 
after her death, he married, as his second wife, Eunice, 
daughter of Edward Tyng. He had a large family of chil- 
dren, of whom five were born in this town. One of his 
great-grandsons, Robert Treat Paine, was a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. 

In the year 1673, Mr. Willard published a volume of ser- 
mons entitled, "Useful Instructions for a professing People in 
Times of great Security and Degeneracy : delivered in sev- 
eral Sermons on Solemn Occasions." 

It consists of three sermons, of which one was preached 
on the occasion of a case of witchcraft that I shall mention 
shortly. It is evident, from a reference in the sermon, that 
the fame or notoriety of the case had spread far from this 
town. Mr. Willard says: "There is a voice in it to the 
whole Land, but in a more especial manner to poor Groton; 
it is not a Judgement afar off, but it is near us, yea among 
us." 

The book is inscribed, "To his Beloved Friends the Inhab- 
itants of Groton." Like all the publications of that time, it 
is purely theological, and contains nothing now of particular 
interest. If he had given us even a few lines of town his- 
tory, it would be almost invaluable. We look in vain through 
its pages for any thing that throws light on the manners and 
customs of the early settlers. We do find, however, the 
modes and habits of thought that were prevalent in those 
days ; and with these we must be content, for the sermons 
furnish nothing more. 

In the year 1671, there occurred here a case of so-called 
witchcraft, and to this Mr. Willard gave much time and at- 
tention. He wrote a very long letter * to Cotton Mather, 
giving the minutest details in regard to it, and Dr. Mather 



* Mr. Willard's letter is printed in full in the " Collections of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society," volume VIII., fourth series, page 555. 



23 

refers to the case in his "Magnalia Christi Americana" 
(Book vi., chapter 7, page 67). The victim of the witch- 
craft was one Elizabeth Knap, who had the long train of 
symptoms which then were usually ascribed to the personal 
influence of the Evil One, but which nowadays would con- 
stitute a well-marked case of hysteria. From an expression in 
Mr. Willard's letter, we learn that the girl went to school in 
his house, from which fact we infer that the minister of the 
town was also the teacher of the children. At one time his 
residence was used as a meeting-house, and now as a school- 
house. Its exact locality is not known to us, though it was 
in the present Main Street. From another expression in the 
letter, we learn there was " a great meadow neere the house," 
which could be seen from one of the windows in a lower 
room. 

The assault by the Indians on the town was followed by 
the breaking up of the place and the scattering of the inhabi- 
tants. Mr. Willard never returned to his pastorate. Soon 
afterward he was installed over the Old South Church in 
Boston, as the colleague of the Reverend Thomas Thacher. 
In the year 1701, he was chosen Vice-president of Harvard 
College, which office he filled till his death, at the same 
time performing the duties of minister of the Old South. 
His connection with the College was really that of President, 
although he was called the Vice-president. The distinction 
was nominal rather than real. The President was obliged 
by the Constitution to live at Cambridge, and this he was 
unwilling to do ; so he acted as such without the title. 

As minister of the Old South, Mr. Willard baptized Ben- 
jamin Franklin. The young philosopher was born in Milk 
Street, directly opposite the church, whither he was taken 
to receive the sacrament of baptism while yet his earthly 
pilgrimage was limited to a few hours of time. 

Mr. Willard's health began to fail, as he approached his 
three score years and ten, the period of life allotted by the 
Psalmist, and he presided for the last time at the College 
Commencement, in July, 1707. In August, the Governor 
and Council were notified that he was not capable of doing 



2 4 

the work at Cambridge for another year. He died, Septem- 
ber 12, 1707. 

Dr. Pemberton, in his funeral sermon, says of him that, 
" His Master committed to his Pastoral Care a Flock in a 
more obscure part of this Wilderness. But so great a Light 
was soon observed thro' the whole Land. And his Lord did 
not design to bury him in obscurity, but to place him in 
a more eminent station which he was qualified for." 

Several printed accounts of King Philip's War appeared 
very soon after it was ended ; and these furnish nearly all 
that is known in regard to it. In those days, there was no 
special correspondent on the spot to get the news ; and, as 
the facilities for intercommunication were limited, these ac- 
counts differ somewhat in the details, but, taken as a whole, 
they are sufficiently accurate. 

The loss of life or limb sustained by the English at this 
attack on Groton, fortunately, was not great. So far as is 
now known, only one person was killed and two wounded. 
It is recorded, however, that John Morse was carried off; 
but he did not remain a prisoner for a long time. Within a 
few months of his capture, he was ransomed by Mr. John 
Hubbard, of Boston, who paid about five pounds for his 
release. This sum was soon afterward reimbursed to 
Mr. Hubbard by a vote of the Council. 4 

These contemporaneous accounts of the assault 5 on the 
town are all short, with the exception of Hubbard's ; and I 
purpose to give them, in the words of the writers, for what 
they are worth. The first is from "A Brief History of the 
Warr with the Indians in Newe- England," by Increase 
Mather, published in the year 1676. This account — prob- 
ably the earliest in print — is as follows : — 

" March \oth. Mischief was done, and several lives cut off by the 
Indians this day, at Groton and at Sudbury. An humbling Provi- 
dence, inasmuch as many Churches were this day Fasting and 
Praying." (Page 23.) 

" March 13. The Indians assaulted Groton, and left but few 
houses standing. So that this day also another Candlestick was 
removed out of its place. One of the first houses that the Enemy 



25 

destroyed in this place was the House of God, /i.e. which was 
built, and set apart for the celebration of the publick Worship of 
God. 

" When they had done that, they scoffed and blasphemed, and 
came to Mr. Willard (the worthy Pastor of the Church there) his 
house (which being Fortified, they attempted not to destroy it) and 
tauntingly, said, What will you do for a house to pray in now we 
have burnt your Meeting-house? Thus hath the Enemy done 
wickedly in the Sanctuary, they have burnt up the Synagogues of 
God in the Land ; they have cast fire into the Sanctuary ; they have 
cast down the dwelling place of his name to the Ground. O God, 
how long shall the Adversary reproach? shall the Enemy Blas- 
pheme thy Name for ever? why withdrawest thou thine hand, 
even thy right hand ? pluck it out of thy bosome? (Page 24.) 

Several accounts of the war appeared in London in 1676, 
only a few months after the destruction of this town. They 
were written in New England, and sent to Old England, 
where they were at once published in thin pamphlets. The 
authors of them are now unknown ; but they undoubtedly 
gathered their materials from hearsay. At that time, Indian 
affairs in New England attracted a good deal of attention in 
the mother country. One of these pamphlets is entitled, "A 
True Account of the most Considerable Occurrences that have 
hapned in the Warre between the English and the Indians 
in New England," "as it hath been communicated by Let- 
ters to a Friend in London." 

This account says that, — 

" On the 13th of March, before our Forces could return towards 
our Parts, the Indians sent a strong party, and assaulted the Town 
of Growton, about forty miles North-west from Boston, and burn'd 
all the deserted Houses ; the Garrison'd Houses, which were about 
ten, all escaped but one, which they carryed, but not the English 
in it ; for there was but one slain and two wounded." (Page 2.) 

Another account, entitled, " A New and Further Narration 
of the State of New England, being a continued account of 
the Bloudy Indian-war," gives the following version : — 

" The 14th of March the savage Enemy set upon a Considerable 
Town called Groughton, and burnt Major Wilberds House first 

4 



26 

(who with his family removed to Charts Town) and afterwards 
destroyed sixty Five dwelling-houses more there, leaving but six 
houses standing in the whole Town, which they likewise furiously 
attempted to set on fire ; But being fortified with Arms and Men 
as Garrisons, they with their shot, killed several of the enemy, and 
prevented so much of their designe ; Nor do we hear that any per- 
son on our side was here either slain or taken captive." (Page 4.) 

A few pages further on, it says that "Grantham and Nash- 
away all ruined but one house or two." (Page 14.) Few 
persons would recognize this town under the disguise of 
Grantham. 

Another one of these London pamphlets, bearing the title 
of "News from New England," says, — 

" The 7th of March following these blood Indians march't to a 
considerable Town called Croaton, where first they set Fire to 
Major Willard's House, and afterwards burnt 65 more, there being 
Seaventy two Houses at first, so that there was left standing but 
six Houses of the whole Town." (Page 4.) 

After these attacks, the town was deserted, and the inhab- 
itants scattered in different directions amoncj their friends and 
kindred. The war was soon ended ; though it was nearly 
three years before the early pioneers ventured back to their old 
homes, around which still clustered many tender associations 
as well as sad recollections. It is recorded that other families 
came back with them. They returned, however, to meet 
hardships that would have overcome ordinary men. Several 
town-meetings were held to consider their present needs ; 
and it was voted at one of them to petition the General Court 
that they be relieved temporarily from country charges. 6 The 
petition sets forth that, under Divine Providence, they had 
been great sufferers in the late war with the heathenish 
enemy ; that they had been subjected to grievous losses and 
privations ; but, at the same time, they expressed gratitude to 
their Heavenly Father that they had the liberty and oppor- 
tunity to return. They saw with the eye of faith the hand 
of God in all their trials. This consolation alone supported 
them, for they knew that with Him on their side their troub- 
les would disappear, and all would yet be well. In their 
letters and petitions, their humble faith in the providence of 



27 

God is conspicuous. It furnishes the key-note to many of 
their actions that would otherwise seem unaccountable. In 
judging them, we should take the standard of their times 
and not that of our day. The scales should be carefully ad- 
justed to the habits of that period when there were no public 
amusements, no popular reading in the shape of books and 
newspapers, and but little relaxation from toil. 

In those early days, there was no variety store, or trader's 
shop, as now, where people could collect to while away long 
evenings, and to interchange opinions. The roads were so 
rough as to be passable only with rude carts, and carriages 
were a luxury unknown. The men rode to church on 
horseback, with their wives seated behind them on pillions. 
The woman made sure of her position by holding on to the 
man with her right arm. This mode of travel is supposed 
not to have been unpopular with the young folks. 

At a very early period, the road to the Bay, as it was 
called, — that is, to Boston, — was by the circuitous route 
through Chelmsford and Billerica, where there was a bridge 
built by several towns, — of which Groton was one, — and 
supported jointly by them for many years. In the year 
1699, the towns of Groton, Chelmsford, and Billerica were 
engaged in a controversy * about the proportion of expense 
which each one should bear in building the bridge. The 
General Court settled the dispute by ordering this town to 
pay twenty-four pounds and ten shillings as her share in 
full, with no future liabilities. 

The lives of our forefathers were one ceaseless struggle 
for existence ; and there was no time or opportunity to culti- 
vate those graces which we now consider so essential. If 
they were stern and austere, at the same time they were 
virtuous and conscientious. Religion with them was a liv- 
ing, ever-present power ; and in that channel went out all 
those energies which with us find outlet in many different 
directions. These considerations should modify the opin- 
ions commonly held in regard to the Puritan fathers. The 
women then were content with domestic duties, and did not 
seek to take part in public affairs. It is wonderful that no 
* Massachusetts Archives, cxxi. 99. 



28 

murmur has come down to us expressive of the tyranny of 
man in withholding from them the rights which are now 
loudly claimed. 

After King Philip's War, the Colonists were at peace with 
the Indians, but it was a suspicious kind of peace. 7 It re- 
quired watching and a show of strength to keep it : there 
was no good-will between the native race and the white 
intruders. 

Captain Francis Nicholson, writing from Boston to Lon- 
don, Aug. 31, 1688, speaks of the feeling here at that 
time. He says : * — 

" Att night [August 19] I came to Dunstable (about 30 miles 
from hence) from thence I sent two English men and an Indian 
to Penecooke about sixty miles up the river Merymeck ; the men 
told me they should be 3 dayes in doeing of it; soe next day I 
went through Groton and Lancaster, where the people were very 
much afraid (being out towns) butt I told them as I did other 
places, that they should nott be soe much cast down, for that they 
had the happinesse of being subjects of a victorious King, who 
could protect them from all their enemies." 

The military company of the town was still kept up, and 
known as the Foot Company ; and, during a part of the 
year 1689, was supported by some cavalry, under the com- 
mand of Captain Jacob Moore. James Parker, Sen., was 
appointed the Captain of it ; Jonas Prescott, the Lieutenant ; 
and John Lakin, the Ensign : and these appointments were 
all confirmed by the Governor and Council, at a convention 
held in Boston, July 13, 1689. f A month later (August 10), 
Captain Parker was ordered to supply Hezekiah Usher's 
garrison at Nononiciacus with "three men of the men sent 
up thither or of the Town's people, for y e defence of y 1 Gar- 
rison being of publique concernment." Groton was one of 
the four towns that were designated, August 29, as the 
headquarters of the forces detached for the public service 
against the common enemv ; Casco, Newichewanick (Ber- 
wick), and Haverhill being the others. And we find, soon 

* Documents relating to the Colonial History of the State of New York, 
ii- 55i- 

t Massachusetts Archives, lxxxi. 24. 



2 9 

after, an order to send "to the head Quarter at Groton for 
supply of the Garrison there one Thousand weight of Bread, 
one barrell of Salt, one barrell of powder three hundred 
weight of Shott, and three hundred fflints, Six quire of 
Paper." Eleven troopers were sent hither, September 17, 
under Cornet John Chubbuck, to relieve Corporal White, 
who was succeeded by John Pratt. The commissary of the 
post at this time was Jonathan Remington, who seems to 
have had but little duty to perform. Shortly afterward, the 
order came from the Governor and Council to discharge 
him, as well as Captain Moore and his company of cavalry,* 
from the public service. 8 

"Jn° Paige of Groten" f went in the expedition to Canada, 
in the year 1690, under Major Wade; was wounded in the 
left arm, and did not entirely recover for two years. His 
surgeon's bill, amounting to four pounds, was paid out of 
the public treasury. 

These facts show that the early settlers were not leading a 
life of peace at this time. The orders and counter-orders to 
even the small garrison tell too well that danger was threat- 
ening. The inhabitants had already experienced the cruelty 
of savage warfare, and knew it to their horror. For some 
years they had been on the constant alert, and held their 
lives in their hands. King William's War was now begun. 
The second attack on the town came in the summer of 1694, 
and the accounts of it I prefer to give in the words of con- 
temporaneous writers. Sometimes there are discrepancies 
in such accounts ; but, as a whole, they constitute the best 
authority. 9 

Cotton Mather, in his " Magnalia," thus refers to it : — 

" Nor did the Storm go over so : Some Drops of it fell upon the 
Town of Groton, a Town that lay, one would think, far enough 
off the Place where was the last Scene of the Tragedy. 

" On July 27. [1694] about break of Day Groton felt some sur- 
prizing Blows from the Indian Hatchets. They began their 
Attacks at the House of one Lieutenant Lakin, in the Out-skirts 
of the Tow n ; but met with a Repulse there, and lost one of their 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxxxi. 40, 60, 67, 71, 73, 74, Si, 13S. 
t Massachusetts Archives, xxxvu. 62. 



30 

Crew. Nevertheless, in other Parts of that Plantation, (where the 
good People had been so tired out as to lay down their Military 
Watch) there were more than Twenty Persons killed, and more 
than a Dozen carried away. Mr. Gershom Hobart, the Minister 
of the Place, with part of his Family, was Remarkably preserved 
from falling into their Hands, when they made themselves the 
Masters of his House; though they Took Two of his Children, 
whereof the one was Killed, and the other some time after happily 
Rescued out of his Captivity." (Book vii. page 86.) 

Charlevoix, a French missionary in Canada, gives from 
his own standpoint another version,* as follows : — 

" The Abenaqui chief was Taxous, already celebrated for many 
exploits, and commendable attachment to our interests. This 
brave man, not satisfied with what he had just so valiantly achieved, 
chose forty of his most active men, and, after three days' march, by 
making a long circuit, arrived at the foot of a fort [at GrotonJ near 
Boston, and attacked it in broad day. The English made a better 
defence than they did at Pescadoue [Piscataqua]. Taxous had 
two of his nephews killed by his side, and himself received more 
than a dozen musket-balls in his clothes ; but he at last carried the 
place, and then continued his ravages to the very doors of the 
capital." 

The loss of life from this attack was considerably greater 
than when the town was destroyed and deserted in the year 
1676. There were twenty -two persons killed and thirteen 
captured. The settlement was now more scattered than it 
was then, and its defence more difficult. For this reason 
more persons were killed and taken prisoners than when the 
place was assaulted eighteen years previously. It is said 
that the scalps of the unfortunate victims were given to Count 
de Frontenac, Governor of Canada. Among those killed 
were William Longley, his wife, and four or five of their 
children ; his eldest one, Lydia, a daughter of twenty, and 
a son named John, were taken prisoners. These two of his 
family escaped the fury of the savages and were spared. 
Lydia's name is found in a list of prisoners who were held 
in Canada, March 5, 1710-11. Within a few years past, a 
Genealogical Dictionary of Canadian families has been pub- 
lished, from which additional facts are gathered concerning 
* History of New France, iv. 257, Shea's edition. 



3i 

her. This book (page 9) gives her name as Lydia Made- 
leine Longley, and says that she was the daughter of William 
and Deliverance [Crisp] Longley, of Groton, where she 
was born, April 12, 1674. In another place (page 396), she 
is spoken of as Sister St. Madeleine. She was captured by 
the Abenaquis, a tribe of Indians who inhabited the territory 
now included in the State of Maine. She was baptized into 
the Roman Catholic Church, April 24, 1696, and lived at the 
Congregation of Notre Dame, in Montreal. She was buried, 
July 20, 1758. 

Her middle name, Madeleine, was doubtless given her 
when she joined the Roman Church. It is possible that she 
may have lived for a time among the Indians, as many of 
the prisoners taken at the same assault were held by them. 

John Longley was twelve years old when he was captured. 
He was carried away, and remained with the Indians for 
more than four years, — a part of the time being spent in 
Canada, and the remainder in Maine. At length he was 
ransomed, but he had become so accustomed to savage life 
that he left it with great reluctance ; and those who brought 
him away were obliged to use force to accomplish their 
purpose. He was afterward a useful inhabitant of the town, 
holding many offices of trust and responsibility. 10 

It is recorded that two children of Alexander Rouse, a 
near neighbor of William Longley, were also killed in the 
assault of 1694. 

Among the English captives redeemed by Mathew Cary, 
from Quebec, October, 1695, was Thomas Drew, of Groton, 
and he probably was taken at this same assault.* There 
was one "Tamasin Rouce of Grotten " received, Jan. 17, 
1698-9, on board the " Province Gaily " at Casco Bay ; and she 
probably was one of Alexander Rouse's family. She had, 
doubtless, been a prisoner for four years and a half, — the 
same length of time as John Longley's captivity. There are 
many instances of children who were kept for a long time by 
their captors. We can now hardly realize the bitter anguish 
felt by the parents over the loss of their little darlings. Bring 
the case home, and think for a moment, what your feelings 

* Massachusetts Archives, xxxviii. A 2. 



32 

would be, if that curly-headed boy or smiling girl was 
snatched from your sight at a moment's notice, and carried 
off by the wild men of the woods for an uncertain fate. The 
kidnapping of one little boy in a distant city in our times 
has caused the hearts of all the mothers in the land to thrill 
with horror as they heard of the atrocious deed, and to throb 
in sympathy with the bereaved parents. 

In the year 1694, an Act was passed by the General Court, 
which prohibited the desertion of frontier towns by the in- 
habitants, unless permission was first granted by the Governor 
and Council. There were eleven such towns, and Groton 
was one of them. The law required the inhabitants of these 
out-towns, who owned land or houses, to take out a special 
license, on pain of forfeiting their property, before they could 
quit their homes and live elsewhere. It was thought that 
the interests of the Crown would be prejudiced, and encour- 
agement given to the enemy, if any of these posts were 
deserted, or were exposed by lessening their strength. 
Many towns were threatened by the Indians about this time, 
and a few were attacked. It is recorded that some of the 
settlers here left the town, and there was probably a move- 
ment among the inhabitants in other places, to do the same. 
This fact, undoubtedly, occasioned the enactment. 

Any thing relating to the brave men who suffered in the 
Indian wars is now of interest to us, and I offer no apology 
for giving incidents that may to some persons seem trivial. 

Cotton Mather mentions, in his "Magnalia," some in- 
stances of "mortal wounds upon the English not proving 
mortal," and gives the case of an inhabitant of this town, 
who was in a garrison at Exeter, New Hampshire, when 
that place was assaulted, July 4, 1690. He says that, — 

" It is true, that one Simon Stone being here Wounded with 
Shot in Nine several places lay for Dead (as it was time !) among 
the Dead. The Indians coming to Strip him, attempted with 
Two several Blows of an Hatchet at his Neck to cut off Head, 
which Blows added you may be sure, more Enormous Wounds 
unto those Port-holes of Death, at which the Life of the Poor 



33 

Man was already running out as fast'as it could. Being charged 
hard by Lieutenant Bancroft they left the Man without Scalping 
him ; and the English now coming to Bury the Dead, one of the 
Soldiers perceived this poor Man to fetch a Gasp ; whereupon an 
Irish Fellow then present, advised 'em to give him another Dab 
with an Hatchet, and so Bury him with the rest. The English 
detesting this Barbarous Advice, lifted up the Wounded Man, and 
poured a little Eair Water into his Mouth at which he Coughed ; 
then they poured a little Strong Water after it, at which he opened 
his Eyes. The Irish Fellow was ordered now to hale a Canoo 
ashore to carry the Wounded Men up the River unto a Chirurgeon ; 
and as Teague was foolishly pulling the Canoo ashore with the 
Cock of his Gun, while he held the Muzzle in his Hand, his Gun 
went off and broke his Arm, whereof he remains a Cripple to 
this Day : But Simon Stone was thorough/ Cured, and is at this 
Day a very Lusty Man ; and as he was Born with Two Thumbs 
on one Hand, his Neighbours have thought him to have at least as 
many Hearts as Thumbs!" (Book vii. page 74.) 

Many families trace back their line of descent to this same 
Simon Stone, who was so hard to kill, and to whom, fortu- 
nately, the finishing "Dab with an Hatchet" was not given. 

Josiah Parker, of Cambridge, petitions the Governor and 
General Court, May 31, 1699, setting forth the fact that his 
brother, James Parker, Jr., and his wife were both killed, 
and several of their children taken prisoners by the Indians, 
in their assault on the town, in 1694. One of these children, 
Phinehas by name, was redeemed after four years of cap- 
tivity at the eastward, by the master of a vessel, who paid 
six pounds for him. The uncle of the boy represents in the 
petition that he himself had reimbursed the master, and now 
wished that this sum be allowed him from the public treasury, 
which request was duly granted. This poor little orphan 
boy was only seven years old when carried off by the sav- 
ages, and the petition relates that he was lame in one of his 
legs, brought on by the cruelty of his captors. 11 

It was probably during the attack of 1694, that Enoch 

Lawrence was wounded. He represented in a petition * to the 

Governor and Council, that he was a very poor man by reason 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxx. 5S3. 

5 



34 

of wounds in his hands received during a fight with the Ind- 
ians in the former war, which almost wholly disabled him 
from earning a livelihood for himself and family. In conse- 
quence of these representations, the House of Representatives 
allowed him, October 17, 1702, exemption from taxes, and 
an annual pension of three pounds during life. 

Governor William Stoughton issued a proclamation,* Jan- 
uary 21, 1695, and refers to the " tragical outrages and bar- 
berous murders " at Oyster River (now Durham, N. H.) and 
Groton. He says that several of the prisoners taken at these 
places "are now detained by the said Indians at Amaras- 
coggin and other adjoining places." 

Cotton Mather says that one man was killed here in 1697, 
and another, with two children, carried into captivity. The 
prisoner was Stephen Holden, who was captured, with his 
two oldest sons, John, and Stephen, Jr. John was released 
in January, 1699, at which time the father and the other boy 
were yet remaining in the hands of the savages. It was not 
long, however, before they too were freed ; for, in the follow- 
ing June, the House of Representatives voted three pounds 
and twelve shillings for the expenses that had been incurred 
in bringing them back. 12 

After these attacks, there was a short respite, which con- 
tinued till 1704, when the frontier towns were again exposed 
to savage warfare ; and this town suffered with the others. 

Samuel Penhallow, in "A History of the Wars of New 
England," published in 1726, thus refers to the attack on 
this place, in August, 1704 : — 

The Indians " afterwards fell on Lancaster, and Groton, where 
they did some Spoil, but not what they expected, for that these 
Towns were seasonably strengthened. . . . 

" And yet a little while after they fell on Groaton, and Nasho- 
ivay [Lancaster], where they kill'd Lieut. Wyler [Wilder] and sev- 
eral more." (Page 24.) 

A party of Indians, about thirty in number, made their 
appearance in town, and killed a man on the night of Octo- 

* Documents relating to the Colonial History of New York, ix. 613, 614. 



35 

ber 25, 1704. Pursuit was at once made for them, but it 
was unsuccessful. 13 

It is not surprising that the inhabitants, upon the renewal 
of hostilities, were obliged to ask for help from the General 
Court. They had already suffered much in life and property, 
and were little able to bear new burdens. They represented 
to the Governor that they had been greatly impoverished by 
their losses of horses and cattle, of corn and hay, and that 
they were scarcely able to hold out much longer ; but the 
crowning calamity of all was the illness of the minister, Mr. 
Hobart, which prevented him from preaching. Their means 
were so limited, that they could not support him and supply 
his place besides. They were obliged to earn their living at 
the peril of their lives ; and some were thinking of leaving 
the town. They spent so much time in watching and guard- 
ing, that they seemed to be soldiers rather than farmers. 
Under these discouraging circumstances, they asked for help, 
and were allowed out of the public treasury twenty pounds, 
to assist them in procuring another minister, besides ten 
pounds to be divided among those who were the greatest 
sufferers in the late attack upon them. 14 

Two years later, another assault was made on the town, 
though with little damage. I again quote from Penhallow : 

"[July 21, 1706.] Several Strokes were afterwards made on 
Chelmsford, Sudbury and Groton, where three Soldiers as they 
were going to publick Worship, were way-laid by a Small Party, 
who kill'd two, and made the other a Prisoner." (Page 36.) 

A few additional particulars of these " strokes " are found 
in the Reverend John Pike's "Journal," under this entry : * 

"July 21, 1706. Sab : 2 souldiers slain & one carried away by 
the enemy at Groton. They were all new-Cambridge [Newton] 
men, & were returned to their Post from one Bloods house, who had 
invited y m to Dinner.'' 

The Reverend Mr. Homer, in his " History of Newton," 
gives the names of these men as John Myrick, Nathaniel 
Healy, and Ebenezer Seger, and says they were all three 

* Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1S75-76, page 143. 



36 

killed by the Indians. This statement is not quite accurate, as 
John Myrick was alive after this date. Only two were killed. 

Penhallow gives several instances of extreme cruelty to the 
prisoners on the part of the savages, and mentions the follow- 
ing case of a man who was captured in this town : — 

" A third was of Samuel Butterfield, who being sent to Groton 
as a Soldier, was with others attackt, as they were gathering in the 
Harvest; his bravery was such, that he kill'd one and wounded an- 
other, but being overpower'd by strength, was forc'd to submit ; 
'and it hapned that the slain Indian was a Sagamore, and of great 
dexterity in War, which caused matter of Lamentation, and enrag'd 
them to such degree that they vow'd the utmost revenge ; Some 
were for whipping him to Death ; others for burning him alive ; 
but differing in their Sentiments, they submitted the Issue to the 
Squaw Widow, concluding she would determine something very 
dreadful, but when the matter was opened, and the Fact consid- 
ered, her Spirits were so moderate as to make no other reply, than, 
"Fortzme Uguare. Upon which some were uneasy ; to whom 
she answered, If by killing hi in, you caiz bring my Husband to 
life again, I beg you to study what DeatJi you please ; but if not 
let him be ?ny Servant ; which he accordingly was, during his 
Captivity, and had favour shewn him." (Pages 38, 39.) 

Butterfield remained a captive for more than a year. It is 
not known how he obtained his release. We find his peti- 
tion,* dated April 10, 1706, to the General Court, which sets 
forth the fact that he was an inhabitant of Chelmsford, and 
was sent by Captain Jerathmel Bowers to Groton, to help 
Colonel Taylor, in August, 1704, when the enemy came 
upon the place. He was ordered, with some others, to guard 
a man at work in the field, when the Indians attacked them, 
killed one, and captured another besides himself. Butterfield 
represents, in the petition, that he " made all the resistance 
possible, killed one, and knockt down two more after they 
had seized him, for which yo r Petitioner was cruelly used 
by them afterwards & threatened to be burnt, several times." 
He says that he " was very well accoutred in all respects 
when he was taken, and then was stript of all and was be- 
tween fourteen and fifteen months a Captive expos'd to great 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxxi. 195. 



37 

hardships, and has sustained great Loss and damage." In 
consideration of his loss and service, he was allowed the sum 
often pounds out of the public treasury. 

A man was killed here, June 12, 1707. His name was 
Brown, and he is spoken of in Pike's "Journal" as Mr. 
Bradstreet's man. 

In a list of prisoners in the hands of the French and In- 
dians at Canada,* March 5, 1710-11, we find the names of 
"Zech: Tarbal, John Tarbal, Sarah Tarbal, Matt. Farns- 
worth [and] Lydia Longley," all of Groton, though there is 
nothing in the record to show when they were captured. With 
the exception of Lydia Longley, they were probably taken 
between 1704 and 1708. In the spring of 1739, the capture of 
the Tarbell boys is spoken of as occurring "above thirty Years 
ago," and it is said that Zechariah was so young at the time 
that he lost his native language. The town records show 
that he was born January 25, 1700, and John, July 6, 1695. 
Sarah Tarbell was undoubtedly a sister of the boys, and was 
probably taken at the same time with them.' I have been 
unable to find out what became of her, as all tradition on 
this point is lost. The history of the two brothers is a very 
singular one, and sounds more like fiction than truth. They 
were sons of Thomas Tarbell, who had a large family of 
children and lived on what is now known as Farmers' Row, 
a short distance south of the Lawrence farm. He was prob- 
ably the " Corp Tarboll," who commanded, in the autumn 
of 171 1, one of the eighteen garrisons in the town. The 
two boys were picking cherries early one evening — so tra- 
dition relates — and were taken by the Indians before they 
had time to get down from the tree. They were carried to 
Canada, where, it would seem, they were treated kindly. 

In the year 17 13, John Stoddard and John Williams were 
appointed by Governor Joseph Dudley, to go to Quebec and 
treat with the Governor-General of Canada for the release of 
the New England prisoners. They were accompanied by 
Thomas Tarbell, — probably the elder brother of the boys, — 
as we find his petition presented to the House of Representa- 

* Massachusetts Archives, lxxi. 765. 



38 

tives, June I, 1715, "praying consideration and allowance for 
his Time and Expences in going to Canada, with Major Stod- 
dard & Mr. Williams, Anno 1713. to recover the Captives." 

The petition was referred, and, on the next day, — 

"Capt. Noyes from the Committee for Petitions, made Report on 
the Petition of Thomas Tarboll, viz. That they are 6f Opinion that 
nothing is due from the Province to the said Tarboll, since he pro- 
ceeded as a Volunteer in that Service to Canada, & not imployed by 
the Government, but recommended him to the favour of the House." 

The report was accepted, and, in consideration of Tarbell's 
services, he was allowed ten pounds out of the public treas- 
ury. Captain Stoddard's "Journal" of the negotiations is 
printed in " The New England Historical and Genealogical 
Register," for January, 1851 (v. 26), and Tarbell's name is 
mentioned in it. 

We find no further trace of these boys, now grown up to 
manhood, for nearly twenty-five years, when Governor Bel- 
cher brought their case, April 20, 1739, before the Council 
and the House of Representatives. He then made a speech 
in which he said that, — 

" There are lately come from Canada some Persons that were 
taken by the Indians from Groton above thirty Years ago, who (its 
believed) may be induced to return into this Province, on your giv- 
ing them some proper Encouragement: If this Matter might be 
effected, I should think it would be not only an Act of Compassion 
in order to reclaim them from the Errors and Delusions of the 
Romish Faith ; but their living among us might, in Time to come, 
be of great Advantage to the Province." 

The subject was referred the same day to a Committee con- 
sisting of John Read, of Boston, William Fairfield, of Wen- 
ham, Thomas Wells, of Deerfield, Benjamin Browne, of 
Salem, and Job Almy, of Tiverton. On the next day, April 
21 — as we read in the printed "Journal " of the House of 
Representatives — the chairman of 

" The Committee appointed to consider that Paragraph in His 
Excellency's SPEECH relating to the Encouragement of two Eng- 
lish Captives from Canada, viz. John Tharbcll and Zechariah 
Tharbcll, made report thereon, which he read in his Place, and then 
delivered it at the Table ; and after some debate thei'eon, the 
House did not accept the Report ; and having considered the same 



39 

Article by Article, the House came into a Vote thereon, and sent 
the same up to the honourable Board for concurrence." 

On the 23d, we find 

" A Petition of Thomas Tharbell of Groton, Elder Brother of 
the two Mr. Tharbells lately returned from Captivity in Canada, 
praying he may be allowed the Loan of some Money to enable him 
to pay William Rogers, jun. his Account of Charges in bringing 
his Brethren to Boston. Read and Ordered, That the Petition be 
considered to morrow morning." 

On the next day, — 

" The House pass'd a Vote on the Petition of Thomas Tharbell 
of Groton, praying as entred the 23d current, and sent the same 
up to the honourable Board for Concurrence." 

All these efforts, however, to reclaim the two men from 
savage life proved unavailing ; for it is known that they re- 
mained with the Indians and became naturalized, if I may 
use the expression. They married Indian wives, and were 
afterward made chiefs at Caughnawaga and St. Regis, vil- 
lages in Canada. Their descendants are still living among 
the Indians, and the Tarbells of the present day, in this 
town, are their collateral kindred. Nearly forty years after 
their capture, Governor Hutchinson met them in New York 
State, and refers to them thus : — 

" I saw at Albany two or three men, in the year 1744, who came 
in with the Indians to trade, and who had been taken at Groton in 

this, that is called Queen Ann's war. One of them Tarbell, 

was said to be one of the wealthiest of the Cagnawaga tribe. He 
made a visit in his Indian dress and with his Indian complexion 
(for by means of grease and paints but little difference could be 
discerned) to his relations at Groton, but had no inclination to re- 
main there." — Hutchinson's "History of Massachusetts," 11. 139. 

This is another account : — 

" It is related that, about a century and a half ago, while a 
couple of boys and a girl were playing in a barn at Groton, Mas- 
sachusetts, some Indians suddenly appeared, seized the boys and 
fled, carrying them to the village of Caughnawaga, nine miles 
above Montreal. They gi'ew up with Indian habits, manners, and 
language, being finally adopted as members of the tribe ; and 
married Indian brides selected from the daughters of the principal 
chiefs." — "The Galaxy," for January, 1870, page 124. 



4° 

The people must have lived in constant dread of the 
Indians during most of Queen Anne's war. Sometimes an 
outlying farmhouse was attacked and burned, some of the 
inmates killed and others carried away in captivity ; some- 
times the farmer was shot down while at labor in the field, 
or while going or coming. This was the fate of John Shat- 
tuck and his son, John, a young man about twenty years of 
age, who were killed May 8, 1709. 

At another time, the date of which is not recorded, the 
house of John Shepley was burned, and himself and all his 
family were massacred, except his young son, John. 
There may have been some special spite against him, 
because some years before he had killed an Indian ; for 
which act he received from the General Court a bounty of 
four pounds. 15 This boy, John, the savages carried away 
with them and held as captive during several years. But 
as is often said, where there is great loss, there is some little 
gain. The knowledge which he obtained of their language 
and customs while a prisoner was of much use to him in 
dealing with them in after-life. Tradition relates that, when 
buying furs and skins of the Indians, he used to put his foot 
in one scale of the balance instead of a pound weight. He 
is the direct ancestor of the Honorable Ether Shepley, for- 
merly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of 
Maine, and of General George F. Shepley, now a Justice of 
the Circuit Court of the First Circuit of the United States. 

Near the end of Queen Anne's war, we find a list of 
eighteen garrisons in this town containing, in all, fifty-eight 
families, or three hundred and seventy-eight souls. Of 
these, seventeen were soldiers in the public service. 16 

The military company at this post, in the summer of 1724, 
was made up of soldiers from different towns in this part of 
the State, and was commanded by Lieutenant Jabez Fair- 
banks. Some of them were detailed as guards to protect 
the more exposed garrisons, and others were scouting in the 
neighborhood. They were so scattered that the command- 
ing officer found it difficult to drill them as a company. 
Fortunately, however, they were not engaged in much fight- 



4 1 

ing, though the enemy had been lurking in the neighbor- 
hood, and threatening the town. Penhallow, in speaking of 
the Indians at this time, says that, — 

" The next damage they did, was at Groton^ but were so 
closely pursued, that they left several of their Packs behind." 
(Page 1 02.) 

Thirteen of Lieutenant Fairbanks's company belonged 
here, and represented some of the most influential families 
in the place. 17 

It was on the ninth day of July of this year, that John 
Ames was shot by an Indian, one of a small party that 
attacked Ames's garrison in the westerly part of the town. 
It is said that he was the last person killed by an Indian 
within the township. The Indian himself was immediately 
afterward shot by Jacob Ames, one of John's sons. 18 

Governor Saltonstall, of Connecticut, writes* from New 
London, under date of July 23, 1724, that the friendly 
Indians of that neighborhood seem inclined to hunt for 
scalps about Monadnock and the farther side of Dunstable 
and Groton. This was owing to an offer made about this 
time by the governments of Massachusetts and New Hamp- 
shire, of a bounty of a hundred pounds for every Indian's 
scalp that should be taken and shown to the proper authori- 
ties. This expedient stimulated volunteers to scour the 
wilderness for the purpose of hunting Indians, and Captain 
John Lovewell, of Dunstable, organized a company, which 
soon became famous. 

The story of Lovewell's fight was for a long time told in 
every household in this neighborhood, and there is scarcely 
a person who has not heard from early infancy the particu- 
lars of that eventful conflict. It was in the spring of the 
year 1725, that Captain Lovewell, with thirty-four men, 
fought a famous Indian chief, named Paugus, at the head of 
about eighty savages, near the shores of a pond in Pequaw- 
ket. Of this little Spartan band, seven belonged in this 
town ; and one of them, John Chamberlain by name, distin- 

* Massachusetts Archives, lii. 23. 
6 



4 2 

guished himself by killing the Indian leader. It is fit that 
a reference to this fight should be made, on this occasion, 
though time does not allow me to dwell upon it. 

The town, now no longer on the frontiers, was again 
threatened with danger near the end of King George's war. 
A company of thirty-two men, under the command of Cap- 
tain Thomas Tarbell, scouted in this vicinity for six days in 
July, 1748, but they do not appear to have discovered the 
enemy. A few days afterward, another company of thirty- 
six men was sent on a similar expedition, but with no better 
success. 19 In the rolls of these two companies we find many 
names that have been prominent in the annals of the town 
from its very beginning. Among them are the Prescotts, 
the Ameses, the Bancrofts, the Shepleys, the Parkers, a son 
of Parson Bradstreet, and a grandson of Parson Hobart. 

The military service of Groton men was not confined to 
this neighborhood. Daniel Farmer, a Groton soldier, was 
taken prisoner, July 14, 1748, in a skirmish with the Indians, 
near Fort Dummer.* He was carried to Canada and kept till 
the following October, when he was allowed to return home. 

Fort Dummer was situated on the west bank of the Con- 
necticut River, in the present town of Brattleborough, Vt. 
Two of its early commanders had been connected with 
Groton by the ties of kindred. Colonel Josiah Willard, in 
command of the fort for many years, was a grandson of 
Parson Willard ; and he was succeeded in command by 
Lieutenant Dudley Bradstreet, a son of Parson Bradstreet, 
and a native of this place. 

Ebenezer Farnsworth, born in Groton, was captured Aug. 
30, 1754, by the St. Francis Indians, at Charlestown, N.H.f 
He was taken to Montreal and held a prisoner during three 
years. His ransom was paid in the summer of 1755, but 
he was not then set at liberty. Mrs. Johnson and her sister, 
Miriam Willard, were captured at the same time. Thev 
were both daughters of Moses Willard, who had formerly 
lived in the south part of this town. 

* Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, page 50. 

t A Narrative of the Captivity of Mrs. Johnson, pp. 81, 96. 



43 

During the French and Indian War, the territory of Aca- 
dia, or Nova Scotia, fell under British authority; and the 
conquest was followed by a terrible act of cruelty and vio- 
lence. The simple Acadians, unsuspicious of the designs 
of the English leaders, were assembled in their churches, in 
obedience to military proclamation, and thence, without being 
allowed to return to their homes, were driven at the point 
of the bayonet on board ships, to be scattered over all the 
English colonies in America. This was done with so little 
regard to humanity that, in many instances, wives were sep- 
arated from husbands, and children from parents, never to 
see one another again. Many an Evangeline waited in vain 
expectation of being re-united to her Gabriel, thus torn away 
from her. Two of these French families, ten persons in all, 
were sent to Groton, where one of the mothers died, not 
many months after her arrival, perhaps, from the rude trans- 
planting. A few years later, a French family — perhaps 
one of these two — is mentioned as living here ; but the 
household had become divided, some of the little children 
being sent to the neighboring towns. Our pity for these 
unfortunate people will be stronger when we reflect that they 
were miserably poor, among a race who spoke a strange 
language, followed other customs, and abominated their 
religion. Under these circumstances, their homesickness 
must indeed have been bitter ; but we have reason to believe 
that they were treated with tender care by the people here. 
We are glad to learn from the records that they were fur- 
nished with medical attendance, and articles necessary for 
their bodily comfort. 

Another struggle was now impending, severer than any 
the Colonists had been engaged in. Almost immediately 
after the French and Indian War, the odious Stamp Act was 
passed, which did much to hasten public opinion toward the 
Revolution. 

I hold in my hand a stamp issued under the authority of 
this Act. On a public occasion, many years ago, Mr. Ev- 
erett said, in speaking of a similar one, that "this bit of 
dingy blue paper, stamped with the two-and-sixpence ster- 



44 

ling, created the United States of America, and cost Great 
Britain the brightest jewel in her crown." 

The Stamp Act was followed by the Boston Massacre, 
the Boston Tea Party, and the Boston Port Bill, — all too 
familiar to be particularized. These acts excited through- 
out the land a deep feeling for the capital of New England. 
The eyes of all the colonies were now turned toward Boston, 
and she received the hearty sympathy of the whole country. 
The sentiments of the people of this town are shown in the 
following letter* from the Town Clerk : — 

"Groton, June 2Sth, 1774. 

"Gentlemen, — The inhabitants of the Town of Groton, in 
general, are deeply affected with a sense of our public calamities, 
and more especially the distresses of our brethren in the Capital 
of the Province, as we esteem the act of blocking up the harbor 
of Boston replete with injustice and cruelty, and evidently designed 
to compel the inhabitants thereof to submission of taxes imposed 
upon them without their consent, and threatens the total destruc- 
tion of the liberties of all British America. We ardently desire a 
happy union with Great Britain and the Colonies, and shall gladly 
adopt every measure consistent with the dignity and safety of 
British subjects for that purpose. 

" In full confidence that the inhabitants of the Town of Boston 
will, in general, exhibit examples of patience, fortitude and per- 
severance, while they are called to endure this oppression for the 
preservation of the liberties of their country, and in token of our 
willingness to afford all suitable relief to them in our power, a* 
number of the inhabitants of this Town have subscribed, and this 
day sent forty bushels of grain, part rye and part Indian corn, to 
be delivered to the Overseers of the Poor of said Town of Boston, 
not doubting but the same will be suitably applied for that pur- 
pose ; and we earnestly desire you will use your utmost endeavor to 
prevent and avoid all mobs, riots, and tumults, and the insulting of 
private persons and property. And while the farmers are cheer- 
fully resigning part of their substance for your relief, we trust the 
merchants will not oppress them by raising upon the goods which 
they have now on hand and heretofore purchased. And may God 
prosper every undertaking which tends to the salvation of the 
people. 

* Massachusetts Historical Collections, Fourth Series, iv. 7, 8. 



45 

" We are, gentlemen, your friends and fellow-countrymen. In 
the name and by order of the Committee of Correspondence for 
the Town of Groton. 

" Oliver Prescott, Clerk. 

"To the Overseers of the Town of Boston." 

The reply * was as follows : — 

" Boston, July 5th, 1774. 

"Sir, — Your obliging letter directed to the Overseers of the 
Poor of this Town, together with a generous present from a num- 
ber of the inhabitants of the Town of Groton, for the relief of such 
inhabitants of this Town as may be sufferers by the Port Bill, is 
come to hand. In behalf of the Committee of this Town, ap- 
pointed for the reception of such kind donations, I am now to 
return to you and the rest of our benefactors the most sincere 
thanks. The gentlemen may be assured their donations will be 
applied to the purpose they intend. We are much obliged to you 
for the wise cautions given in your letter ; and we shall use our 
best endeavors that the inhabitants of this Town may endure their 
sufferings with dignity, that the glorious cause for which they suf- 
fer may not be reproached. We trust that the non-consumption 
agreement, which we hear is making progress in the country, will 
put it out of the power of any of the merchants to take unreason- 
able advantage of raising the prices of their goods. You will, 
however, remember that many heavy articles, such as nails, &c, 
will be attended with considerable charge in transporting them 
from Salem. As the bearer is in haste, I must conclude, with 
great regard for your Committee of Correspondence and the in- 
habitants of the Town of Groton. 

" Sir, your friend and fellow-countryman, 

" Signed by order of the Overseers of the Poor, 

" Sam. Partridge. 
" To the Committee of the Town of Groton, 

in Massachusetts." 

The times that tried men's souls were now rapidly approach- 
ing ; and the rights of the Colonies were the uppermost sub- 
ject in the minds of most peopje. Groton sympathized 
warmly with this feeling, and prepared to do her part in the 
struggle. A considerable number of her inhabitants had 

* Massachusetts Historical Collections, Fourth Series, iv. 9, 10. 



4 6 

received their military schooling in the French war, as their 
fathers before them had received theirs in the Indian war. 
Such persons did not now enter upon camp life as inexperi- 
enced or undisciplined soldiers. The town had men willing 
to serve and able to command. Within a quarter of a mile 
of this very spot the man was born, who commanded the 
American forces on Bunker Hill; and, as long as the story 
of that battle is told, the name of Prescott will be familiar.* 

Before the beginning of actual hostilities, two companies 
of minute-men had been organized in this place ; and, at the 
desire of the officers, the Reverend Samuel Webster, of Tem- 
ple, N. H., preached a sermon, February 21, 1775? before 
them, which was afterward printed. It is there stated that a 
large majority of the town had engaged to hold themselves, 
agreeably to the plan of the Provincial Council, in prompt 
readiness to act in the service of their country. The sermon 
is singularly meagre in particulars which would interest us 
at this time, and is made up largely of theological opinion, 
perhaps as valuable now as then, though not so highly 
prized. 

The Reverend Samuel Dana was the minister of the town 
at this period, and, unfortunately for him, he was too much 
in sympathy with the Crown in the great struggle now going 
on for human rights. Mr. Dana may not have been a Tory ; 
but he did not espouse the cause of the Revolution. The state 
of public feeling was such that everybody was distrusted who 
was not on the side of political liberty. The people said, 
ft He who is not for us is against us ; " and the confidence of 
his flock was converted into distrust. It was easy to see that 
his influence was gone ; and almost every minister in New 
England who held similar opinions shared the same fate. 
It was important that the public teacher and preacher should 
be in sympathy with the popular mind on the prominent politi- 
cal questions. This was a period of great events ; and no 
man could stand against their crushing force. It was evident 

* On the night of May 21, 1775, the countersign at the camp in Camhridge 
was " Pepperell," and the parole, " Groton." This was undoubtedly in com- 
pliment to Colonel Prescott. 



47 

that his usefulness was ended ; and the relations between 
him and his parish were severed without the intervention of 
a regular ecclesiastical council. 

Mr. Dana was a conscientious man ; and it was his mis- 
fortune rather than his fault, that he was not more happily- 
situated in regard to his people. It is but justice to his 
memory to say that, after Burgoyne's surrender, in the year 
1777, Mr. Dana felt that the colonial cause was the winning 
one ; while before this event he thought that the want of suc- 
cess on the part of the Colonists would result in their greater 
misery. He then became satisfied that the power of the 
country was sufficient to sustain the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence ; and he was ever after the uniform supporter of all 
measures looking to its acknowledgment by the enemy. It 
is a little remarkable that Mr. Dana, who had such a Tory 
bias that he was obliged to leave the ministry in Groton, 
should have been a candidate in 1782 for the convention to 
form a constitution for New Hampshire, " as a sovereign and 
independent body politic." 

After his dismissal from the parish, he officiated during 
perhaps a year and a half, in 1780 and 1781, as the minister 
of a Presbyterian society, which had a short existence in this 
town. This was owing chiefly r to some of his old parishioners, 
who were dissatisfied with Dr. Chaplin, his successor. While 
living here, Mr. Dana was appointed executor of the will of 
John Bulkley, Esq., an attorney-at-law in this town. This 
position brought him in contact with a library 5 which he used 
in studying law, though, at this time, with no professional 
eye to business. In the year 1779, Thomas Coleman, who 
succeeded Mr. Bulkley as a lawyer, had his residence and 
office in Mr. Dana's house ; and this circumstance helped 
him in gaining his new profession. He was admitted to*the 
bar in 1781, and began practice at Amherst, N. H. He 
soon attained high rank in his new calling, and received 
many marks of kindness and confidence from his neighbors 
and fellow-citizens. He was offered the appointment to a 
judgeship of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas ; but he de- 
clined it. He afterward accepted the office of Judge of Pro- 



4 8 

bate, which he kept only for a short time. His success as 
an advocate before a jury was marked ; and this was due in 
part to his fluency of speech and clearness of expression, 
resulting from his pulpit experience. 

He died, April 2, 1798, at Amherst, and was buried with 
masonic honors, when the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, of 
Groton, delivered a funeral eulogy, which is in print. His 
name is perpetuated in this town by the Dana School. 

During several days before the Battle of Lexington, a hos- 
tile incursion by the English soldiers stationed in Boston was 
expected by the patriots. Its aim was the destruction of 
stores collected for the use of the provincial cause ; and, on 
this account, every movement of the British troops was closely 
watched. At this time, the Committees of Safety and of 
Supplies voted that some of the stores should be kept at Gro- 
ton ; and, if their plan had been fully carried out, it is among 
the possibilities of the war that another battle might have been 
fought in Middlesex county, and Groton have been the scene 
of the action. But open hostilities began so soon afterward, 
that no time was given to make the removal of the stores. 
It was ordered by these committees, April 17, that the four 
six-pounders be transported from Concord to Groton, and 
put under the care of Colonel Prescott. On the next day, it 
was voted that all the ammunition should be deposited in 
nine different towns of the province, of which Groton was 
one, and that one-half of the musket cartridges be removed 
from Stow to Groton. It was also voted that two medicinal 
chests should be kept at different places in the town, and 
that eleven hundred tents be deposited in equal quantities in 
Groton and six other towns.* 

In the summer of 1777, the Council of the State recom- 
mended to the Board of War that the magazine f in this town 
should be enlarged sufficiently to hold five hundred barrels of 
powder. This recommendation was carried out within a 
few days ; and a corporal and four privates were detailed to 

* Journals of the Committee of Safety and of the Committee of Supplies 
of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 1774-1775, pages 516-518. 
t Massachusetts Archives, clxxiii. 274, 290, 549. 



49 

guard it. A caution was given " that no person be inlisted 
into said Guard that is not known to be attached to the Ameri- 
can Cause." Later in the autumn, the detail was increased 
to a sergeant and nine privates. 

Two years afterward, some glass was wanted for this very 
building, and for the school-house, as the windows were 
much broken. The selectmen of the town could obtain 
the glass only through the Board of War ; and to this 
end they petitioned the Board for leave to buy it.* The re- 
quest was duly granted ; and I mention this trivial fact to 
show one of the little privations common in those days. 

It is said in the note-book of the Reverend Dr. Jeremy Bel- 
knap, of Boston, that a negro belonging to this town shot 
Major Pitcairn through the head, while he was rallying the 
dispersed British troops, at the Battle of Bunker Hill.f It is 
known that Pitcairn was killed by a negro, but this is, per- 
haps, the first time that he has ever been connected on good 
authority with Groton. 

The record of this town during the Revolution was a 
highly honorable one. Her soldiers achieved distinction in 
the field, and many of them in after life filled positions of 
trust and responsibility. 

In the year i77^» an Act was passed removing the Novem- 
ber term of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace and 
Court of Common Pleas, from Charlestown to Groton. It 
may be conjectured that the change was owing to the dis- 
turbances of the war. Two years later, by another Act, 
this November term was transferred to Cambridge, to take 
the place of the May term, which in turn was brought to 
Groton, where it remained till 1787. It is very likely that 
the sessions of the Court were held in this very building. 
The Court was sitting in this town during the famous dark 
day of May, 1780. 

Joseph Dennie, the poet, was rusticated from college in his 
senior year, and placed under the care of Dr. Chaplin, the 
minister of this town. Dennie used to say that he was sent 

* Massachusetts Archives, clxxv. 647. 

t Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1875-76, page 93. 

7 



5o 

away from Cambridge to let his class catch up with him in 
their studies. After he had been here a short time, he writes 
to a classmate, under date of Feb. 24, 1790, giving his im- 
pressions of the place. He says : " A better, more royal, 
social club of Lads cannot be found in America, college 
excepted, than at Groton." 

During a part of the first half of the present century, 
Groton had one characteristic feature that it no longer pos- 
sesses. It was a radiating centre for different lines of stage- 
coaches, until this mode of travel was superseded by the 
swifter one of the railway. A whole generation has passed 
away since the old coaches were wont to be seen in these 
streets. They were drawn usually by four horses, and in 
bad going by six. Here a change of coaches, horses, and 
drivers was made. 

The stage-driver of former times belonged to a class of 
men that have entirely disappeared from this community. 
His position was one of considerable responsibility. This 
important personage was well known along his route, and 
his opinions were always quoted with respect. I can easily 
recall, as many of you can, the familiar face of Mr. Corey, 
who drove the accommodation stage to Boston for so many 
years. He was a careful and skilful driver, and a man of 
most obliging disposition. He would go out of his way to 
bear a message or leave a newspaper ; but his specialty was 
to look after women and children committed to his charge. 
I recall, too, with pleasure, Horace George, another driver, 
popular with all the boys, because in sleighing-time he would 
let us ride on the rack behind, and would even slacken the 
speed of his horses so as to allow us to catch hold of the 
straps. 

In the year 1802, it is advertised that the Groton stage 
would set off from I. & S. Wheelock's, No. 37 Marlboro' 
(now a part of Washington) Street, Boston, every Wednes- 
day at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive at Groton at 3 
o'clock in the afternoon ; and that it would leave Groton 
every Monday at 4 o'clock in the morning, and arrive in 
Boston at 6 o'clock in the afternoon. It seems from this that 



5i 

it took three hours longer to make the trip down to Boston 
than up to Groton. In the succeeding year, a semi-weekly 
line is mentioned, and Dearborn Emerson was the driver. 
About this time he opened the tavern, at the corner of Main 
and Pleasant Streets, long since given up as an inn, and sub- 
sequently burned. There were then two other taverns in the 
place, — the one kept by Mr. Hall, and continued as a tavern 
till this time; the other kept by Jephthah Richardson, on 
the present site of the Baptist church. About the year 
1807, there was a tri-weekly line of stages to Boston, and 
as early as 1820 a daily line, which connected with others 
extending into New Hampshire and Vermont. Soon after 
this there were at times two lines to Boston, running in 
opposition to each other, — one known as the Union and 
Accommodation Line, and the other as the Telegraph and 
Despatch. Besides these, there was the accommodation 
stage-coach that went three times a week, and took passen- 
gers at a dollar each. 

In the year 1830, George Flint had a line to Nashua, and 
John Holt had one to Fitchburg. They advertise " that no 
pains shall be spared to accommodate those who shall favor 
them with their custom, and all business intrusted to their 
care will be faithfully attended to." 

There was also at this time a coach running to Lowell, 
and another to Worcester. 

Some of you will remember the scenes of life and activity 
that were to be witnessed in the village on the arrival and 
departure of the stages. Some of you will remember, too, 
the loud snap of the whip which gave increased speed to. the 
horses, as they dashed up in approved style to the stopping- 
place, where the loungers were collected to see the travellers 
and listen to the gossip which fell from their lips. There 
were no telegraphs then, and but few railroads in the country. 
The papers did not gather the news so eagerly nor spread it 
abroad so promptly as they do now, and items of intelligence 
were carried largely by word of mouth. But those days 
have long since passed. There are persons in this audience 
that have reached years of maturity, who have no recollection 



52 

of them ; but such is the rapid flight of time that, to some of 
us, they seem very near. 

Groton was situated on one of the main thoroughfares 
leading from Boston to the northern country, comprising an 
important part of New Hampshire and Vermont, and extend- 
ing into Canada. It was traversed by a great number of 
wagons, drawn by four or six horses, carrying to the city 
the various products of the country, such as grain, pork, 
butter, cheese, eggs, venison, hides ; and returning with 
goods found in the city, such as molasses, sugar, New-Eng- 
land rum, coffee, tea, nails, iron, cloths, and the innumerable 
articles found in the country stores, to be distributed among 
the towns above here. In some seasons, it was no uncommon 
sight to see in one day thirty such wagons. 

We are now in our history passing through a period of 
centennial anniversaries, and we shall do well to study care- 
fully their lesson. They are appearing unto us at different 
times and in different places. Their proper observance will 
kindle anew the patriotic fires of the Revolution, and bring 
out all over the land a common devotion to the Republic. 

Time rolls on rapidly, and a century is soon completed. 
There are many in this audience who will see those that will 
be living a hundred years hence. To look ahead, a century 
appears to be a long period ; but, to look back to the extent 
of one's memory, it seems a short one. The years fly on 
wings, and change is a law of Nature. I can recall now but 
two families in the village, that are living in the same houses 
which they occupied in my boyhood ; and those two are Mr. 
Dix's and Mr. Blanchard's. A familiar sight at that time was 
the venerable form of Mr. Butler, whose character was well 
shown in his benignant face. His accurate "History" will be 
an abiding monument to his memory, and his name will be 
cherished as long as the town has a political existence. At 
that time the Common was the playground of the boys, — it 
had not then been fenced in, and there was but a single row 
of elms along the main street. Of the boys that played 
there, many are dead, others have left the town, and only a 
few remain. And the same can be said of the school-girls. 



53 

The lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places, and we all 
have much to be thankful for. What a contrast between our 
lot and that of our fathers ! They had to struggle with many- 
hardships. Their life was one of stern, unremitting toil, 
surrounded by cares and anxieties. They had to subdue the 
wilderness, while exposed to the assaults of a lurking savage 
foe. We, on the other hand, now enjoy much of the material 
results of their labor. We have but to cast our eyes about 
us, and see the comfortable homes and fertile fields. They 
left us the means of religious instruction, a system of public 
schools, and an attachment for the government which they 
labored so hard in founding. All these they placed in our 
keeping, and it rests with us to preserve them intact for the 
generations to come. The duty with us now is to see that 
the Republic shall receive no harm ; to see that no moral 
decay — the sure precursor of physical decay — shall sap 
the structure which they reared. Our aim should be to 
leave to our children an example as noble as the one that 
was left to us. 



APPENDIX. 



[The Massachusetts Archives, frequently referred to, are in manuscript, 
and may be seen at the State House.] 



i. — Page 16. 

The Humble Request of Joseph Parker to the Honoured Gov- 
erno r the Honourd magistrates & deputyes, Humbly Requests in 
behalfe of the towne of Grawton that the letter GR may bee Re- 
corded as the brand mark belonging to the towne I being chosen 
Counstible this year make bolde to present this, to the Honoured 
Court it being but my duty, in the townes behalfe thus Hopeing 
the Honored Court will grant my request I rest yor Humble ser- 
vant 

Joseph Parker 
Boston: 31*^ may: 1666 

In answer to this motion the Deputies approve of y e letter GR 
to be y e brand marke of groaten 

William Torrey Cleric 

Ye Hono red magists consenting hereto 

Consented by the magists Edw : Rawson Secret y 

[Massachusetts Archives, I. 21.] 



2. — Page 17. 

To the Constable of Groaten 

These. Require yo u in his Maj 4168 name, to sumone & require 
John Page & such othe r of y e toune y 4 went up to Inquire for y^ir 
catle. at Pemicook presently on the death of the Englishman mur- 
thured by y° Indians there lately in a drunken fitt. as is sayd & 
others y* yo u know to make their Appearances before the Generall 
[Court] now sitting in Boston on 27 th Instan*. at eight of y e clocke 
in the morning to give in their evidences in y 8 Case relating to y a 
sd murthe r & y e occasion thereof by selling strong liquo" & by 



56 

whom as they know or have heard making yo r return of this war- 
rant to the Secretary at or before y* time hereof yo u are not to 
faile dated in Boston the 15 th of Octobe 1 166S. 

Edw Rawson Secre 4 
By the Com' 

[Endorsed] 
These thre men namly John Page Thomas an Robard 

Tarball Juni r & Joseph Blood are Summanced Parish 

to apear e at the Generall Court according to the premises : 
by raee 

Matthias Farnsworth 

Constable of Grawton. 
To the Constable Grawten 

[Massachusetts Archives, xxx. 155.] 

The words " an Robard Parish " appear in the original as 
given above. They were evidently put in after the docu- 
ment was written. 

The Deposition of Danll Waldron being called to Speak what I 
know about the Death of Thomas Dikison who was killed by an 
Indian as they say : my selfe with many others was sent up by my 
father to see the corps and enquire into his death when we came 
there we found the man dead and an Indian lying dead by him 
and examining the Indians how he came by his death they said the 
Indian that lay dead by him killed him with his knife : and enquir- 
ing further why he killed him the Indians told us they .asked him 
and he gave them no answer but bid them shoott him : and further 
enquiring whether the Indian were Drunk they answered that he 
was not Drunk and after this we saw him buried presently and we 
returned home the next Day 

This was taken upon oath : this 20 : | of y e : 8 : } mo 166S before 
us 

Simon Willard 

W M Hathorne 

[Massachusetts Archives, xxx. 157.] 

Wee whose names are hereunto subscribed Doe testifye that in 
or aboute y 6 Month of June last past goeing to Pennycooke to en- 
quire after Cattle yt were lost, rideing to y 6 fFort at the sayd Penni- 
cooke, meeting w th some of the Indians belonging thereto told us, 
y' an Englishman was Killed by an Indian, and that all our Eng- 



57 

lishmans Laws they had Killed the Indian, wee farther enquireing 
of them how and whether the Indians were drunke when the Eng- 
lishman was Killed and they answered all Indians were then 
drunk or else they had noe Kild Englishman ; And farther wee 
Evidence Tohaunto a Sagamore being afrayd that wee had brought 
Liquors to sell desired us if wee had any, that wee would power it 
on the ground for it would make y e Indians all one Divill, And 
farther wee meeting w th Thomas Payne, who told us he was Cap' 
Waldern's serv', asking him whether the Indians were drunke when 
the Englishman was Killed, and he answered not drunk, and after 
farther discours 6 wth y e s d Payn" he sayd that y e prson that was Killed 
was Peter Coffins man and farther sayd That if the Killing of the 
Man did not prevent it his the sayd Payn e s Master Cap' Waldern" 
and Peter Coffin did intend to send Carpenters to build ther e and 
also to have ground broake upp to be improved, and wee further 
affirme that wee saw a Rundlett which would hold at least six 
Gallons in the Trucking House near the sayd ftbrt ; after wch wee 
meeteing wh the Indians then ther e and telling them y* Thomas 
Payn e told us that they were not drunk when The Englishman was 
Killed the Indians then say d y 4 Payn e much Lyed, for wee had 
Divers Quarts of Liquors the same day that the sayd Englishman 
was Killed upon and one of the Indians Conlaunded his Squagh to 
wash a Bladder, wherein the Indian sayd there was a Quart of 
Liquors and wee doe adiudge it to be as much ; or using words to 
the same effect 

John Page 
Octob r 27* 1668 Robb Parris 

Thomas Tarball 
Sworne in Court, 27, octobe r 166S : Joseph bloud 

Edw : Rawson Secret 7 
[Massachusetts Archives, xxx. 161.] 



3. — Page 20. 

Honerd Gentlemen the Gouvr & Councell 

This afternoon, we had acordinge to your order, discourse with 
Capt Hincksman, in reference to his actings in his waye as to the 
comisions he reed from you, he is to take : So men frome oure 
Garisons, that is all we haue or mor, & we : stand in need of more 
but we dare not be so bold, our corne, that littill we haue, is time 
it weare gathered, but if our scouts be taken off heer is littill be 

8 



58 

gathered, & many will be hardly kept with vs, but will rune awaye 
frome all our townes, you hapily may thinke we ai*e afrayd, we 
will not bost therabout, but we dare saye, our Hues are not dear 
unto vs, in any way that God shall call vs to, our thoughts are that 
it is not advisable to march vp to penicooke, wher ther are many 
Indians at the p r sent, yet many abroad about all our towns as 
apears dayly, but our p r sent thoughts are, that it might be for 
p r sent saftie for the country, that a Garison wear settled ouer Mer- 
rimake Riuer about donstable, that ther maye be enttercorse be- 
tweene our towns & that Garison, we haue apoyntted Capt Pakr 
& left Hinckesmen who will relatte things to giue you reall light, 
much further then is meet now to do or then time will pmitt, we 
are not willinge to truble you any further, but rest your humble 
servants 

Groaton this 25^ 7 : 75. 

Simon Willard, 

Salom Adames 

James Parker : 

James Kidder 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxvii. 265.] 



4. — Page 24. 

To the Hono e . a Council convened at Boston Aug" 17* 1676. 

The humble Petition of John Morse 

Sheweth. That yof petition.' being an Inhabitant of Groton ; hath 
together (with many others) been deprived of his Estate by the 
calamity of the warr ; and himselfe carried away captive by the 
Enemy; and about five pounds in mony laide down by Mf John 
Hubbard of Boston for his ransome, and understanding that there 
hath been some Stock raised by a contribution towards the ransom- 
ing of the captives. Yof petition! doth humbly pray that hee may 
bee considered in the distribution of the s? Stock, and that M r . 
Hubbard may be reimbursed thereout ; hee having not of his own 
wherewith to pay him. and yo. r petitionrJ shall for ever thankfully 
acknowledge yof Hono? ffavof therein and for ever prayer. 

This petition is Granted 17 August 1676 : 

per Consiliu E R S. 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxix. 4S.] 



59 



5. — Page 24. 

The following account of the burning of the town is by 
the Reverend William Hubbard, and is found in his "Narra- 
tive," printed in 1677. It is the fullest contemporaneous 
account printed, and very likely many of the facts were 
given him by the Reverend Mr. Willard. 

March 2. They assaulted Groton : the next day over night 
Major Willard with seventy Horse came into the Town ; forty 
Foot also came up to their relief from Watertoivti, but the Indians 
were all fled, having first burned all the Houses in the Town, save 
four that were Garisoned, the Meeting-house being the second 
house they fired, Soon after Capt. Sill was sent with a small 
Party of Dragoons of 8 Files to fetch off the Inhabitants of Grolo7i, 
and what was left from the spoyle of the enemy, having under his 
conduct about sixty Carts, being in depth from front to reer above 
two mile : when a party of Indians lying in ambush, at a place of 
eminent advantage, fired upon the front and mortally wounded two 
of the vaunt Carriers, who dyed both the next night, and might 
(had God permitted) have done eminent damage to the whole 
Body, it being a full hour before the whole Body could be drawne 
up, which was done with care and Courage : but the Indians after 
a few more shot made, without doing harm, retired, and made no 
further assault upon them, being the same Party of Indians which 
the day before had burned some part of Chelmsford. Soon after this 
Village was deserted and destroyed by the enemy : yet was it a spe- 
cial providence, that though the Carts were guarded with so slen- 
der a Convoy, yet there was not any considerable loss sustained. 
The Surprizall of Groton was after this manner. 
On March, 2. The Indians came in the night and rifled eight or 
nine houses and carried away some cattle, and alarmed the Town. 
On March, 9. About ten in the morning a parcel of Indians 
(having two dayes lurked in the town, and taken possession of 
three out-houses and feasted themselves with corn, divers swine 
and poultry which they there seized) laid an ambush for two Carts, 
which went from their garison to fetch in some hay, attended with 
four men, two of which espying the enemy, made a difficult escape, 
the other two were set upon, and one of them slain, stript naked, 
his body mangled, and dragged into the high-way, and laid on his 
back in a most shamefull manner: the other taken Captive; and 
fater sentenced to death, but the enemy not concuring in the man- 



6o 

ner of it, execution was deferred, and he by the providence of God 
escaped by a bold attempt the night before he was designed to 
slaughter, and fled to the Garison at Lancaster, the cattle in both 
towns wounded, and five of them slain outright. 

March, 13. Was the day when the enemy came in a full body, 
by there own account 400. and thought by the Inhabitants to be 
not many fewer. The town was at this time (having been put 
into a fright by the sad Catastrophe of Lancaster the next border- 
ing town) gathered into five Garisons, four of which were so near 
together, as to be able to command from one to the other, between 
which were the cattle belonging to those Families driven into pas- 
tures, which afterward proved their preservation ; the other was 
near a mile distant from the rest. 

This morning the Indians (having in the night placed them- 
selves in several parts of the town) made their Onset ; which 
began near the four Garisons ; for a body of them having placed 
themselves in Ambuscado, behind a hill, near one of the Garisons, 
two of them made discovery of themselves, as if they had stood 
upon discovery. At this time divers of the people, nothing sus- 
pecting any such matter, (for the day before, many had been upon 
discovery many miles, and found no signs of an Enemy being so 
near) were attending their occasions, some foddering their cattle, 
some milking their Cows, of whom the Enemy might easily have 
made a seizure, but God prevented ; they having another design 
in hand, as soon after appeared : These two Indians were at length 
espyed, and the Alarm given ; whereupon the most of the men in 
the next Garison, and some also of the second (which was about 
eight or nine pole distant) drew out and went to surprize these two 
Indians, who kept their station till our men reached the brow of 
the hill, then arose the ambush and discharged a volley upon them, 
which caused a disorderly retreat, or rather a rout, in which one 
was slain, and three others wounded : mean while another ambush 
had risen, and come upon the back side of the Garison so deserted 
of men, and pulled down the Palizadoes : The Souldiery in this 
rout, retreated not to their own, but passed by to the next Garison, 
the women and children mean while exposed to hazard, but by the 
goodness of God made a safe escape to the other fortified house 
without any harm, leaving their substance to the enemy, who made 
a prey of it, and spent the residue of the day in removing the corn 
and houshold-stuff (in which loss five Familyes were impover- 
ished) and firing upon the other Garison : here also they took some 
Cattle. No sooner was the signal given by the first volley of shot, 



6i 

but immediately in several parts of the town at once, did the 
smoakes arise, they firing the houses. 

In the afternoon they used a stratagem not unlike the other, to 
have surprised the single Garison, but God prevented. An old 
Indian if an Indian passed along the street with a black sheep on 
his back, with a slow pace, as one decrepit : They made several 
shot at him, but missed him, at which several issued out to have 
taken him alive, but the Watchman seasonably espying an ambush 
behind the house, gave the signal, whereby they were prevented. 

The night following the enemy lodged in the town, some of 
them in the Garison they had surprized, but the Body of them in 
an adjacent valley, where they made themselves merry after their 
savage manner. The next morning they gave two or three Vol- 
ley es at Capt. Parkers Garison, & so marched off, fearing as was 
thought that supply might be nigh at hand. This assault of theirs 
was managed with their wonted subtlety, and barberous cruelty : 
for they stript the body of him whom they had slain in the first 
onset, and then cutting off his head, fixed it upon a pole looking 
towards his own land. The corpse of the man slain the week 
before, they dug up out of his grave, they cut off his head" and one 
leg, and set them upon poles, and stript off his winding sheet. A 
Infant which they found dead in the house first surprised, they cut 
in pieces, which afterward they cast to the swine. There were 
about forty dwelling houses burnt at that time, besides other build- 
ings. This desolation was followed with the breaking up of the 
town, and scattering of the Inhabitants, and removal of the Can- 
dlestick, after it had been there seated about twelve years. 

Concerning the surprizing of Grolon, March 13. There was 
not any thing much more material, then what is already men- 
tioned, save only the insolency of yohn Monaco or one eyed John, 
the chief Captain of the Indians in that design : who having by a 
sudden surprizal early in the morning seized upon a Garison house 
in one end of the Town, continued in it, plundering what was there 
ready at hand, all that day ; and at night did very familiarly in 
appearance, call out to Capt. Parker that was lodged in another 
Garison house, and entertained a great deal of Discourse with him, 
whom he called his old Neighbour : dilating upon the cause of the 
War, and putting an end to it by a friendly peace : yet oft mixing 
bitter Sarcasmes, with several blasphemous scoffs and taunts at 
their praying and worshipping God in the meeting house, which 
he deridingly said he had burned. Among other things which he 
boastingly uttered that night : he said he burnt Medjield (though 
it be not known whither he was there personally present or no) 



62 

Lancaster, and that now he would burn that Town of Groton, 
and the next time he would burn Chelmsford, Concord, Water- 
town, Cambridge, Charlstoivn, Roxbury, Boston, adding at last 
in their Dialect, What Me will, Me do: not much unlike the 
proud Assyrian (if his power had been equal to his pride) some- 
time threatned against Jei'usalem, but was by the remarkable 
providence of God, so connfounded within a few months after, that 
he was bereft of his four hundred and fourscoi'e (of which he now 
boasted) and only with a few more Bragadozio's like himself, 
Sagamore Sam, old Jcthro, and the Sagamore of £hwbaog were 
taken by the English, and was seen (not long before the writing 
of this) marching towards the Gallows (through Boston Streets, 
which he threatened to burn at his pleasure) with an Halter about 
his neck, with which he was hanged at the Towns end, Septem- 
ber 26. in this present year 1676. So let thine Enemies perish 
O Lord, and such contempt be poured on all them that open their 
mouthes to blaspheme thy holy Name. 

Things looked with a pritty sad face about those parts at this 
time ; yet though the Righteous fall seven tinzes, let not their 
Enemies rejoyce, for the Righteous shall rise again, but their 
wicked Enemies shall fall into mischief, atzd rise no more. It 
was ebbing water with New- England at this time, and a while 
after ; but God shall turn the stream before it be long, and bring 
down their Enemies to lick the dust before them. 

After this April 17. Captain Sill, being appointed to keep Gari- 
son at Groton, some Indians coming to hunt for Swine, three 
Indians drew near the Garison house, supposing it to have been 
deserted, were two of them slain by one single shot made by the 
Captains own hands, and the third by another shot made from the 
Garison. [Pages 72-76.] 

The following paragraph is taken from " A Table " in Hub- 
bard's "Narrative," and is found on the fourth page after page 132. 

Groton, surprized March 2. as is related pag. 60. & 61. [7 2- 7^- ? ] 
the place consisting of about 60. families, was soon after deserted, 
yet are there 14. or 15. houses left standing to this day, though not 
inhabited for the present, pag. 73. 



6. — Page 26. 

The humble petition and request of the greatest number of the 
former inhabitants of y e Towne of Groton 



63 

Humbly sheweth to the Honored Generall Court setting in Bos- 
ton : as followeth viz : 

We who have been great Sufferers, by y e hand of God, in the 
late wars by our heathenish enemyes, as is well knowne to all : &c 
by which we have bin enforced, to flye before enimyes ; to our 
great & greivous losse, & trouble. By y e good hand of God to us, 
have had so much repreave, & respitt, as we have many of us, had 
y e liberty & oppertunity, to returne to the places, though not y e 
houses of our former abode. And now being under & exercised 
with many and great difficultyes ; Apprehending it our duty, to 
addresse ourselves ; not onely to our heavenly father ; but earthly 
fathers also, in this time of need : do humbly begg our case may 
be seriously considered, & weighed, & that some direction, and 
releife may be affoarded unto us. 

Some of us y e Inhabitants have ventured : our lives some while 
since to returne againe, and many others have followed us, whose 
welcome company is rejoycing unto us. Yett our poverty, & the 
nonresidence of others, doth occation us great & unavoidable 
trouble. We have (through Gods goodnesse, & blessing our en- 
deavours, & attempts) procured & obteined the ministry of y e 
word amoung us ; & have bin at some considerable charge about it. 
And are willing (if God please) to keep, & maintaine, it amongst 
us. Butt there is some discouragements, upon sundrey accounts. 
We have had severall towne meetings to consult the good, & wel- 
fare of the towne & place & how things may be caried on, as to 
defraing publiq charges, And it hath bin, voated in our meetings 
(our visible estate being small) to lay it on y e lands, y' so an equal- 
ity in some respect might be reached unto. This is by y e most 
judged to be the present best yea y e onely present possible way for 
us to proceed in. which we desire your honoured selves to putt y° 
countenance of authority upon. As also That our late dredfull 
suffering ruines, and impoverishments may by your honoured 
selves be so fare minded & considei-ed, that we may for the present 
(till we a little recover ourselves) be releised from Countrey 
charges. We would be rightly understood, as to our first request 
That the way by lands accomodations for the levying towne charges 
may be stated butt for y e present few years, till God by his provi- 
dence may alter our capacity & condition : Thus craving pdone for 
this our boldnesse That successe & a blessing may Attend you in 
all your affaires ; That God will accomplish his promises & built 
y e wast places, sett up his house & ordinances whence they have 
been removed delight to build, & plant us againe & not to pull us 



6 4 

dovvne & pluck us up That we may yett see This our Jerusalem a 
quiett habitation Thus prayeth your humble & unworthy petition- 
ers : 

Att A towne meeting at Groton James Parker 

May 20'? 1679 Ther red & voated Select man 

by the inhabitants : And clarke in y e 

name of y e rest. 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxix. 224.] 



In answ r to this Pet" It is. ordered by this Court y* for 3 : yeares 
next comeing in all levyes made for y e benefit of y e s d place & y e 
maintenance of Gods ordinances there, those y* have lands there & 
are not ressid* upon y e place shall pay l-ates for y r Lands ther as 
those do y l are ressid 4 and y* the Inhabitants there ressid' be abated 
one single rate p r ann. to y e country for ye like times The mag- 
is ts have past this their brethren the deputyes hereto consenting 

Edw d Rawson Secre' 
29 th May 1679. 

The deputs Consent hereto provided that the cattle upon the 
place be lyable to pay rates also w th refFer r ence to the consent of 
o r . Hon re . d magistrs hereto 

William Torrey Cleric. 
30 th May 1679 Consented to by the magis'f 

Edw d Rawson Secret. 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxix. 229.] 



7. — Page 28. 
Josiah Parker of Groton testifies that he is very well acquainted 
w th y e Indian now in prison named Jacob Nonantinooah & that he 
Can say of his certain knowledge y* he hath seen him every month 
since y° last Indian warr began, except it was when he y e said 
Jacob was in y e Countrey service under y e Cofiiand of Capt" Noah 
Wiswall in y e years Eighty nine & Ninety : allso if he be required 
he Can produce severall y* Can testify y e same Hee further saith 
that as far as it is possible to know an Indian he is a friend to the 
English & hath manifested the same both in word an Action & 
whereas severall of y e Inhabitants of Groton have been out in y e 
woods on hunting they have taken this said Jacob w'. h them who in 
y e night hath showne his Care more than any of them in his watch- 



65 

fullness ; expressing himselfe to them that it did Concerne him so 
to do, for if they were Surprised by y e enemy Indians he should be 
worse dealt w'l 1 then the English ; also many other Instances might 
be mentioned. 

Josiah Parker 

Groton Decmbr. 8 th . 1691 
The testimoneys of Josiah Parker aged. 36 : years : and of 
Joseph Parker aged 40 years : Thomas Tarball aged. 25 : years or 
thereabouts; testify concarning Jacob Indein now in prison; that 
the two winters last past y e s d Jacob has bin gineraly in our towne 
with his famely Except when he was out a hunting and then the 
s d Joseph Parker or s d Tarball were out with him or som other 
Inglesh men who have geeven sd Jacob a good coment as to his 
care and wachfulnes as to y e enemy boath by night and day and 
by the best inquiery that we can make s d Jacob has never bin out a 
hunting above once without som English Companey with him & 
then he was not gon above a fortnight and that was about two 
years sence ; the which if caled too am redy too testify upon oath 
pr me 

Josiah Parker 

Groton Decmbr. 8 th . 1691 
Concarning the man that has accused the Indeins in prison he is 
a man litell to be credeted for on the : 2^ day of this Instent at 
Evening : Lef* Boweres and : I, at Mr. Sumers'is at charlestowne 
discorsing him namly Abraham Miller about y e s d Indeans : and, 
teling him that he was mistaken for thes Indeans ware not at Can- 
edy at that time when he charged them ; s d Miller sd Zoundes that 
if ever he saw them Indens again out of prison he would kill them : 
and being a litell cautioned to be sober minded he broke out with 
an oath that if he ware but out of ye countrey himselfe ; he wished 
the Indeans would knock out y e braines of every porson in Newe 
England. This was spock before Mr. Sumers & his wife and sev- 
erall outliers ; y e s d porson being asked whether he was not in a 
passion some time after he Replyed no he ware of y e same mind 
still that if he was out of y e countrey he did not care if all the Rest 
ware knocked their braines out — to which if caled to am redy too 
testify upon oath. Pr me 

Josiah Parker 
[Massachusetts Archives, xxx. 323.] 



66 



8. — Page 29. 

Jer. Sweyne writes from " Berwick att Salmon Falls Octob r 15. 
89" 

that " it is supposed y* small party of Indians may be in y e ches- 
nut cuntry beyond Groaton." 

Upon information there is but little work for a Coniissary at 
Groton the Representatives do agree & order that the Coniissary 
there ; be discharged from said Imploym* : 

Ordered by the Representatives That Capt ne Jaccob Moore w th 
his Company at Groton be forth w th drawneoff and discharged de- 
sireing the Hon ed the Gov r & Councill Consent 

Novemb r ; 6 : 1689 : Ebenezer Prout Clerk 

Consent^ to by the Govf 

& Councill 

Is* Addington Sec' 7 
[Massachusetts Archives, xxxv. 56, 71, 73.] 

Six soldiers were posted in this town, under Thomas Hinchman, 
Nov. 17, 1692. Two additional men were allowed, August, 1695, 
when there were ten soldiers in town, and four troopers to scout. 
There were eight men posted here for " y e Deffence of y e Fron- 
tiers," June 10, 1698. 

[Massachusetts Archives, lxx. 184, 261, 3S0.] 



9. — Page 29. 

The following reference to the assault on the town in 1694 
is found in the report, made October 26, by M. Champigny 
to the Minister Pontchartrain. The original document is in 
the Archives of the Marine and Colonies at Paris ; and I 
am indebted to Mr. Francis Parkman, the distinguished his- 
torian, for the copy of it. 

These Indians did not stop there ; four parties of them have 
since been detached, who have been within half a day's journey of 
Boston [«.£., at Groton], where they have killed or captured more 
than sixty persons, ravaged and pillaged every thing they found, 
which has thrown all the people into such consternation that they 
are leaving the open country to seek refuge in the towns. 



6 7 

A "Relation" of an expedition by Villieu also mentions 
the assault. A copy of the paper is found in the State Ar- 
chives, in the volume marked, "Documents collected in 
France," iv. 251. The writer gives the date of the attack 
as July 30, which is three days later than is usually assigned. 
He says : — 

On the 30, the Indians of the Penobscot, not having taken as 
many prisoners and as much booty as those of the Kennebec, 
because they had not found enough to employ themselves ; at the 
solicitation of Villieu and Taxous, their chief, some fifty of them 
detached themselves to follow this last person, who was piqued at 
the little that had been done. They were joined by some of the 
bravest warriors of the Kennebec, to go on a war party above 
Boston to break heads by surprise (casser des tctes a la surprise), 
after dividing themselves into several squads of four or five each, 
which cannot fail of producing a good effect. 

Having crossed Merrimack, on the 27th of July [1694] they fell 
upon Groton, about 40 miles from Boston. They were repulsed at 
Lakin's garrison house, but fell upon other houses, where the peo- 
ple were off their guard, and killed and carried away from the 
vicinity about forty persons. Toxus's two nephews were killed by 
his side, and he had a dozen bullets through his blanket, according 
to Charlevoix, who adds, that he carried the fort or garrison and 
then went to make spoil at the gates of Boston ; in both which 
facts the French account is erroneous. 

[Hutchinson's " History of Massachusetts," 11. 82.] 



10. — Page 31. 
The DEPOSITION of John Longley, Yeoman. 
[No 4] 

John Longley, of Groton, of about fifty four Tears of Age, 
testifies and saith, That he was taken Captive by the Indians at 
Groton, in July 1694, and lived in Captivity with them more 
than four Tears; and the two last Tears and an half at Penob- 
scott, as Servant to Madokawando of said Penobscott ; and he 
was always accotmted as Chief, or one of the chief Sachems or 
Captains among the Indians there: And I have often seen the 
Indians sitting in Council, where he always sat as Chief; and 



68 

once in partictdar I observed a Present was made hint of a con- 
siderable Number of Skins of considerable Value, as an Ac- 
knowledgment of his Superiority. 

John Longley. 

Middlesex ss. Groton, July 24th, 1736. 

Deacon John Longley above named personally appearing 
made, Oath to the Truth of the above written Testimony. 

Before me Benjamin Prescot, Justice of Peace. 

[A Defence of the Title of the late John Leverett, Esq., &c, by Samuel 
Waldo, of Boston, 1736, page 27.] 



11. — Page 33. 

The Petition of Josiah Parker of Cambridge humbly sheweth 
That whereas in the year 1693 [1694?] the Indian enemy made 
an assault upon the Town of Groton in which among others James 
Parker Jun r Brother to yo r humble Pet"' was killed with his Wife, 
several of his Children also were then carryed away Captive, one 
of which named Phinehas Parker something less then a year ago 
was (by a Master of a Vessell belonging to Ipswich) redeemed 
from the Indians at y e Eastward ; which said Master has been re- 
imbursed by yo^ Pet/y w ch is to the Value of about six pounds in 
Money. 

The earnest request of yof humble Pet° r to yof Excellency & to 
this Hon b . le Court is that you would please to consider him & that 
allowance may be made him out of the publick Treasury for what 
he has disburst. Also he desires humbly that you would please 
something to consider the said Phinehas who is a poor Orphan 
now about twelve years old and is likewise lame of one of his 
Leggs occasioned by y e cruelty of y e Salvages and it is very ques- 
tionable whether ever he will be cured, & has little or nothing left 
him of his Fathers estate for his support If therefore what has 
here been suggested by yo r humble Pet n . r may be accordingly con- 
sidered & granted, it will greatly oblige him, as in duty Bound, 

Ever to Pray &c 

Josiah Parker 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxx. 401.] 

In answer to this petition, dated May 31, 1699, it was 
voted, three days afterward, that six pounds of money be 
allowed out of the public treasury. 



6 9 



12. — Page 34. 

To The Honored & great Assembly now setting in Boston The 
hnnible petition and Request of Stephen Holden of Groton 

Honored S" It having pleased the Almighty God to order it that 
myselfe & my two biggest sons tho small were taken captives by 
the Indian enemyes from our towne of Groton and being with the 
Esterne enemy & my 2 sons about one year & ten moneth when 
tho it was my portion to escape with my life thro Gods mercy be- 
yound what I did expect or look for & I think fared better than 
some other English yett great hardship and difficultyes I under- 
went, but being very desirous with one of my sons that was there 
to gitt home If it might be fore the English vessells came I was 
necessitated to give my promise to my Indian Pilates whom I sat- 
isfyed att Richmans Island by English that I borrowed of there 
thre pound & twelve shillings If I might have y e boldnesse I 
would humbly crave That It might be payd out of Publiq stock 
I should take it thankfully att your hands Thus with my thank- 
fullnesse to God that both myselfe & both my children he hath 
graciously returned to our home againe commend your honours 
and concerments into y e hands & wishing y e Presence & benidic- 
tion of y e soveraine God I take Leave & subscribe myselfe your 
humble servant & suppliant 

Stephen Holden 
Groton May 27 th 1699 

It was voted, June 6, 1699, by the General Court, that the 
petitioner be allowed the sum he asked for. 

Among the names of the captives received on board the 
"Province Gaily," Jan. 17, 1698-9, at Casco Bay, were 
"John Houlding of Grotten" and "Tamasin Rouce of Grot- 
ten." It is recorded, a week later, that " Steven Houlding 
of Grotten " and " Steven Houlding Junr of ditto " are " yet 
in the Indian hands." 

[Massachusetts Aixhives, lxx. 398, 399, 400.] 



13.— Page 35. 

On Wednesday night [October 25] an English man was kill'd 
in the Woods at Groton by the Indians which were afterwards 



7o 

descryed in the night by the Light of their Fires, by a Person 
Travailing from Groton to Lancaster, and judged they might be 
about Thirty in number ; pursuit was made after them, but none 
could be found. 

["The Boston News-Letter," October 30, 1704, No. 2S.] 



14. — Page 35. 

To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esq Cap! General and Govern' 
in Cheif in and over her Majestyes Province of the Massachusetts 
Bay &c. and to the Ho ble the Council and Representatives of s d 
Province. 

Wee the inhabitants of the Towne of Groton cannot but with all 
thankfulness acknowledge the great Care that his Ex'cy and Gov- 
ernm! hath taken for our Preservation and defense in these times 
of danger. Notwithstanding all which, wee have bin by our 
Enemy extreamly impoverished not being capable of making those 
improvements which are necessary for our subsistance, but our 
Outlands upon which wee have a Considerable dependance lye 
neglected ; and many of us are reduced to the Last necessity ; Out- 
Stocks are like to Suffer much in the Winter ; and are in great 
fears that wee have mett w'. h Considerable losses in them already 
from the Enemy and wee are now at Extream Charge in the Set- 
tling of our Minister ; So that wee are greatly reduced and impov- 
erished ; 

Wee would therefore humbly intreat that our Languishing Cir- 
cumstances may be taken into your Consideration ; and that our 
proportion of the Publique tax may this year be remitted to us ; 
and wee hope that not only our present afflicted State but our 
future dutyfull deportment will be Such as may testifie for us, and 
afford yof hon™ Satisfaction in so notable an instance of Charity, 
and Compassion 

Jonas Prescott 
Jonathan Lawrence 
Jn? Farnesworth 

Sam? - Parker \ * 
Nath. Woods [ beIect 

RoBT. ROBBINS ) 

In behalf of the Towne of Groton ; 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxin. 391.] 



7i 

To his exalancy Joseph Dutly esquir captain genarall comander 
in in and ouer hur maiesties prouines of the masiacheusits bay in 
new Ingland and to the honorable counsil and raprasantitifes in 
genarall court asambled at boston this Instant Desember 1704. 

The humble patition of the Inhabitants of the town of groton in 
the county of midlsax in the prouians aforesd humbley sheweth 

1 That wharas by the all desposing hand of God who orders all 
things in infinit wisdom it is our portion to liue In such a part of 
the land which by reson of the enemy Is becom uary dangras as 
by wofull exsperiants we have fait both formarly and of late to our 
grat damidg & discoridgmant and spashaly this last yere hauing 
lost so many parsons som killed som captiuated and som ramoued 
and allso much corn & cattell and horses & hay wharby wee ar 
gratly Impouerrished and brought uary low & in a uary pore ca- 
pasity to subsist any longer As the barers herof can inform your 
honors 

2 And more then all this our paster rar hobard is & hath been 
for aboue a yere uncapable of desspansing the ordinances of God 
amongst vs & we haue aduised with the Raurant Elders of our 
nayboring churches and thay aduise to hyare another minister and 
to saport mr hobard and to make our adras to your honours we 
haue but litel laft to pay our deus with being so pore and few In 
numbr athar to town or cuntrey & we being a frantere town & 
lyable to dangor there being no safty in going out nor coming in 
but for a long time we haue got our brad with the parel of our 
Hues & allso broght uery low by so grat a charg of bilding gar- 
isons & fortefycations by ordur of athorety & thar is saural of our 
Inhabitants ramoued out of town & others ar prouiding to remoue. 
axcapt somthing be don for our Incoridgment for we are so few 
& so por that we canot pay two ministers nathar ar we wiling to 
liue without any we spand so much time in waching and ward- 
ing that we can doe but litel els & truly we haue lined allmost 2 
yers more like soulders then other wise & accapt yours honars can 
find out som bater way for our safty and support we cannot uphold 
as a town ather by remitting our tax or tow alow pay for building 
the sauarall forts alowed and ordred by athority or alls to alow the 
one half of our own Inhabitants to be under pay or to grant lib- 
erty for our remufe Into our naiburing towns to tak cor for oursalfs 
all which if your honors shall so meet to grant you will hereby 
gratly incoridg your humble pateceners to conflect with the many 
trubles we ar ensadent unto 

wharfore your humble pationars humbly prays your axcalancy 



72 

& this honared court to tak this mater into your seares consedra- 
tion and grant releef accordingly and your pationars shall as in duty 
bound foreur pray 

by order of the town of groton 

Jonas Prescott 
James Nutting 
Joseph Laken 
Samuel Parker 
Jan? 2? 1704 Read. 

In the House of Representatives. 
Jan? 3: i7°4 

In Answer to the Petition on the other side 

Resolved That there be allowed, and Paid out of the publick 
Treasury, the sum of Twenty Pounds, to the Town of Grotton to 
Encourage & Assist them in Procuring another Minister, to help 
them under the present Disability of their Pastour M r . Hubbard, 
& Ten Pounds more be allowed & Paid out of the publick Treas- 
ury, to Jonathan Tyng Esq. & M r . Nathan! Hill, to be by them pro- 
portionably distributed to such of the s*! Town, as in the Judgment 
have been greatest sufferers, in the late outrages made upon them 
by the Enemy Sent up for concurrence. 

Jam* Converse Speaker 
In Council. 

Read and concurr'd. 

Is A . Addington Secry 
4 th January. 1704. 

[Massachusetts Archives, lxxi. 107, 108.] 



15. — Page 40. 

To his Excellency Joseph Dudley Esq! Cap! General and Gov- 
ernor in Chief in & over her Maj H . e9 Provinces of the Massachusetts- 
Bay & ra in New England To the Hon b ! e her Maf? Council in s a 
Province and To the Hon b ! e the House of Representatives now con- 
vened in General Assembly within & for said Province 

Octobf 25 th 1704 

The Humble Petition of John Shepley of Groton Sheweth 

That when Major Taylor was at Groton, having drawn off most 
of his men from the place and marched to Col. Tyngs yof Peti- 
tioner and Thirteen men more being some reaping and y? rest 
Warding in a ffield at Groton afores? the Indians to the number of 
about twenty came upon them when yo! Petitioner and the rest 



73 

betook themselves to their Arms, and three others being along 
with yo! Petitioner, the Indian ran round the ffield & met them & 
the s? Indians made several shott at the English, but amongst the 
rest one lusty stout Indian with a holland shirt on ran about 8 or 
10 Rodd side by side with yo! Petitioner & the other 3 men in 
his Company, about 10 Rodd to the right hand of them when he 
fired upon us, and as soon as he had fired yo! Petitioner fired being 
loaded with a slugg & another of the Company at the same time 
fired a Bullet at him whereupon the s d Indian fell down and cryd 
out ; Those now 3 of our first Company kill'd or carryed away, 
Afterwards ye s d Indian was found dead & a slugg & Bullet in his 
Body his Scalp being sent up to his Excellency by Major Taylor. 
Yo! Petitioner therefore humbly prays yo! Excellency & Hon? to 
take the premises into yo! Considerations and he may be al- 
lowed such Encouragem? for his service herein as the Law 
allows or as to yo! Excellency & Hono" in yo! Wisdoms shall 
seem meet, 
and yo! Petitioner shall pray & r f 

John Shepley. 
Octob* 26"? 1704. 
In Council, 
Read and sent down. 

On the back of the petition is written : — 

In the House of Representatives 
Octo! 27 : 1704 Read and 

Resolved That the sum of four Pounds be allowed and Paid out 
of the publick Treasury to the Petition! and the like Sum of four 
Pounds to Samuel Butterfield, who this House is Inform? did 
assist in the killing of the Indian mentioned in the Petition, and 
that no other or further sum be allowed for the killing of the s? 
Indian 

Jam? Converse Speaker 
Sent up for Concurrence 

in Council. 
Die pdict. 

Read and Concurr'd 

Is* Addington Secry. 
[Endorsed] John Shepley's Petition Octo! 1704. 

[Massachusetts Archives, xxx. 496, 497.] 



74 



i6. — Page 40. 

" In a List of Frontier Garrisons Reviewed by Order of 
His Excellency the Governour, In Novemb r 17 11," the fol- 
lowing statistics are given of Groton : — 



No 


Garisons 


Familys 


Inhabit 9 


Souldiers 


Souls 


1 


Seij' Gillson 


3 


6 


I 


25 


2 


Deacon Whittney 


4 


8 


— 


32 


3 


Lieu* Lawrance 


1 


I 


— 


2 


4 


Cap' Prescott 


4 


8 


I 


4 1 


5 


Samuel Parker 


3 


8 


O 


27 


6 


M* Bradstreet 


1 


1 


3 


10 


7 


M T . Hubbards 


3 


12 





32 


8 


M r Lakins 


7 


9 


1 


30 


9 


Ens g Shipple 


6 


7 


2 


30 


10 


M r Shaddock 


5 


6 


2 


26 


11 


Corp Tarboll 


4 


6 


2 


2 3 


12 


M r Holdings 


1 


3 


2 


12 


*3 


Ensf Farnsworth 


3 


4 


1 


18 


H 


M r Filbrick 


7 


8 





40 


15 


Mf Stones 


2 


3 





12 


16 


Chamberlain 


1 




— 


4 


i7 


y e Cap* Mill 


1 


1 


1 


6 


18 


M' Farnsworth 


2 


2 


1 


8 



53 



93 



[Massachusetts Archives, lxxi. 874.] 



17 



373 



17. — Page 41. 

The following Groton men are borne on the rolls of Lieutenant 
Fairbanks's company, June 18, 1724: — 



Phinias Parker, Serj* 


Nov. 25 


to Jan. 12 


4 


!3 


4 


Jon? Shipley, Sent 1 . 1 


,, 10 


11 11 


4 


II 


5 


Jo? Blood 


i? n 


June 13 


i5 


10 




Jaf Shaduck 


55 11 


11 11 


i5 


10 




Samuel Screpter 


11 11 


11 11 


!5 


10 




W m Lawrance 


?1 11 


11 11 


15 


10 





75 



Josiah Bauden. 


>n. 13 


June 


l 3 


10 


18 


6 


Jacob Ames 


Nov. 25 


55 


55 


14 


8 


6 


Isaac Woods 


55 55 


55 


55 


H 


8 


6 


Jason Williams 


55 55 


55 


55 


14 


8 


6 


Nath 1 Lawrance 


55 55 


55 


55 


H 


8 


6 


Jon a Shepley, Serjt 


Jan- *3 


55 


55 


H 


ri 


6 


Tho s Chamberlin 


Nov. 29 


15 


55 


H 


2 


10 


Mich 1 Gillson 


April 28 


55 


55 


3 


7 


1 



[Massachusetts Archives, xci. 124.] 

Lancaster, July 1 * 1724. 
May it please your Honour, 

I recieved your Letter the Last night in the evening, and not 
before tho' I suppose I might have had it sooner had the bearer 
pleased, Your Honour is pleased in your Letter to give me my 
choice of A Lieutenants Post in Groton or Turkey Hills or A Ser- 
jeants at Lancaster. I am sensible that Serjeants Pay in Town 
would be as Profitable as to keep constantly abroad, but yet upon 
Some Considerations I choose to Abide in the Post I am, and to 
go to Groton. I return my thanks to your Honour for the choice 
you have given me. I would Inform your Honour that on Mon- 
day Last I sent A Scout to Rutland who Returned yesterday and 
gave me an Account that In the way they discovered the tracks of 
four or five Indians bearing towards Wochoosett who they Judged 
had been gone 2 or 3 days. Yesterday Part of Groton men & Part 
of this Town went out for the week to range above the Towns to 
see what Discovery they could make, and I am my self this Day 
going out with what men I can Raise to see what I can discover. 
I desire the favour of your Honour, That the souldiers now under 
my Command in Lancaster and Groton might have the Liberty of 
abiding with me or of being Dismist. If it be your Honours 
Pleasure to let Edward Hartwell who hath been a Serjeant under 
me Abide still in that Post in this Town I should take it as a fa- 
vour. I stand ready to attend your Honours Orders & Commands 
and am S r 

Your Humble Servant 

Jabez Fairbanks. 

Groton, July 20^ 1724. 
May it please your Honour 

I have attended your orders in posting the men at the Towns of 
Groton Lancaster & Turkey hill — precisely except at Turkey 



7 6 

Hill there is but eleven men Cap* Stevens having not as yet sent 
so many as ordered & I have Taken my post at Groton where I 
improve the Souldiers in the best manner I can agreeable to your 
orders, & have ordered them to Lodge in some of y e most Exposed 
Garrisons as often as may be, but I find it impossible to Improve 
So Small a number of men So as to answer yf Necessities of the 
people here whose circumstances are So verry Difficult & Distress- 
ing that I am not able fully to Represent to your Honour. 

the poor people are many of them obliged to keep their own 
Garrisons and part of them Imployed as Guards while others are 
at their Labour whose whole Time would be full Little enough to 
be expended in getting bread for their families. My own Garrison 
at Lancaster is very much exposed & with Humble Submission I 
think Requires Protection as much as any in that Town, there- 
fore I Humbly pray your Honour would be pleased to give me 
Leave to post a Souldier there Dureing my absence in the service 
of the province I beg your Honours Pardon for giving you this 
Trouble ; and as Leave to Subscribe my Selfe 

Your most Obedient Humble Serv* 

Jabez Fairbanks 
[Massachusetts Archives, lii. 9, 18.] 

For some brief "Journals," kept in this neighborhood by Lieu- 
tenant Fairbanks, during the years 1723 and 1724, see Massachu- 
setts Archives, xxxviii. A 49-54. 

Colonel Tyng writes, July 23, i7 2 4> fr° m Dunstable, to Lieu- 
tenant-governor William Dummer, that he has sent ten men of 
his company to Groton, agreeably to orders. 

He goes himself " to dispose the 10 men there." 

[Massachusetts Archives, LII. 22.] 



18. — Page 41. 

The following entry is found in the printed "Journal " of the 
Massachusetts House of Representatives, for November 20, 
1724: — 

A Petition of Jacob Ames, shewing that he was one of the 
Weekly Scouts near the Garrisons on the Westerly part of the 
Town of Groton ; and on the Ninth Day of July last, when it was 
the Petitioners Week to be on Duty, a Number of Indians appeared 
at the Garrison of the Petitioners Father John Ames, and killed 



77 

him at the Gate, and then rush'd violently into the Garrison to 
surprise the People there. And the Petitioner did with Courage 
and Resolution by himself defend the Garrison, and beat off the 
Indian, Slew one of them and Scalp'd him ; praying, That altho' 
it happened to be his Week to be on Duty, that this Court would 
take the Premises into their wise and serious Consideration, and 
grant what other Allowance more than the Establishment by Law, 
shall to them seem meet, for his aforesaid Service. Read, and in 
Answer to this Petition. Resolved, That over and above the Fif- 
teen Pounds due to the Petitioner by Law, for recovering the said 
Scalp, and the good Services done this Province thereby, the 
Sum of Fifteen Pounds be allowed and Paid out of the Publick 
Treasury to the said Jacob Ames for his good Service as aforesaid. 

Sent up for Concurrence. 



19. — Page 42. 

A List of the Names of the men that Scouted In the woods In 
July last under the Coinand of Cap' Thof Tarbell of Groton & 
the Number of Days the ware In s d Service 

We Set out y? 7 Day & : Returned y? \$\ Except Jacob Ames 

who was Taken sick & Returned back yf 2? Day 
Groton OctT 2 if 1748 

attest Tho? Lawrence Cler. 

Liu Eleazer Green Isaac Holden 

Ensighn Stephen Holden Pilott Jerah? Powers 

Sarga' John Page John Shattuck 

Serg Simon Pearce Moses Woods 

Samuel Shattuck Junf Tho! Lakin 

James Shattuck J onn Keemp 

Eleazer Tarbell Jonaf Sartell 

Jonathan Holden Moses Blood 

Elias Ellett Henrey Farwell 

Same 1 / Kemp Jutf Nath 1 . 1 Smith 

Jona^ Shattuck Jun! Jona* Lawrence 

John Gilson Jun? Henry Jefts 

Joseph Patterson Aaron Woods 

Timothy Mores Jacob Ames 

Neh? Jewett Eleazer Green Jun* 

Edm? Bancroft John Parker Juir! 



7 8 



also by the authority a forsd on the 28 of July I marched in to The 
wilderness in quest of the Enemy with The men whose Names 
are hear after written and Returned the 29 Day : and we found 
our Selves both prevision and amanision both Times. 



John Bulkely 
James Prescott 
John Gilson 
Dudley Bradstreet 
Jeremiah Shattuck 
William Nutting 
Tho s Lawrance 
Isaac Green 
Jos. Sheeple 
Tho s Woods 
Joseph Parker 
Nathaniel Parker 
W™ Bennett 
Nathaniel Shattuck 
Ezekiel Nutting 
Joseph Gilson 
Isaac Gilson 
James Fisk 



Jonas Parker 
Ruben Woods 
Jonathan Lawrance 
Jeremiah Hobart 
Isaac Lakin Jun r 
Joseph Bennett 
Joseph Chandler 
Isaac Patch Jun r 
John Nutting Jun r 
Jonathan Prescot 
Daniel Pollard 
Ebenezer Lakin 
Peter Parker 
Sam" Bowers 
Tho 5 Chamberlin 
Ebenezer Blood 
Nathaniel Davis Jun r 
Josiah Sartell clerk 

Tho Tarbell Cap* 



[Massachusetts Archives, xcn. 156.] 



79 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



To the Hono r ed the Generall Co r t of the Massachusetts 

Colony, in N. E. : 
The humble request of the inhabitants of the Town of Groton, 
humbly sheweth, 

That Whereas in this day of Calamity & distress, wee are fellow- 
sufferers with our brethren & neighbo r s, in the sad & doleful con- 
sequences of the present unhappye warre : though wee have cause 
to adore & praise that mercy which hath preserved us from such 
desolation under which o r neere neighbo r s are now bleeding ; yet 
o r sufferings are such, as, except the Lord helpe, wee are sinking 
under ; esteeming it therefore o r duty to apply o r selves to yo r hono", 
whom wee account o r publicke fathers, & trust you will improve 
yo r wisdome & abilityes for us : wee doe earnestly crave o r pi-esent 
State to be considered, & weighed in a just balance : who are 
brought neere to utmost streights. The enemye (as we groundedly 
suppose) waiting an opportunity against us ; the season of the 
yeere calling to employment, & hasting to passe away from us : 
ourselves brought into a narrow compasse, & ready to undergoe 
sore sufferings, by reason of necessary arising inconveniencyes ; o r 
provision neere consumed, & souldiers quartered amongst us has- 
tening the expense of it : our wives & children, some removed, 
others removing : our cattel lying open to dayly hazards of being 
seized : These things portend to us a famine, & poverty, Coming 
upon us with as great fury on the one hand, as the enemy on the 
other ; & wee at the present are unable to be beneficial to the pub- 
licke & private interest incumbent upon us. Wee humbly, & upon 
o r knees crave yo r hono r s direction & assistance in this case, as the 
Lord shall direct whither wee shall goe or stay, or what way we 
may be set in, & wheras we were summoned to send in o r Deputy 
we did esteeme o r present State required the presence of o r sould- 
iery at home, especially men in place & office with us : wee there- 
fore, being small in number, & dayly waiting the approach of the 
enemye, have (not in any despising of authority refrained from 
Chusing one : & withal have Chosen, o r Rever'l Pasto r . M r Sam el 
Willard to present this o r humble request, & farther to expresse o r 



8o 

minds and humble desires, as occasion may present, & yo r bono™ 
shall see meet to enquire into. Commending you to the most 
hygh, & supplicating the God of heaven to reveale Counsell in this 
day of darknesse, & to make you instruments of his glorye, & his 
peoples peace ; Wee rest, 

Yo r hono" 
From Groton this humble 

Febr: 19. 75. Suppliants 

Simon Willard 
James Parker : 

[ Superscription] 

To the Honored the Generall Co r t 

of the Massachusetts Colonye 

Assembled in Boston 

N. E: 



To the Right Honorable the Gov'r. and Cottncil sitting 
in Boston. 

The Petition of Daniell Addams, Humbly sheweth, that your 
Petitioner's went out as a voluntear, upon the Scout, from Concord 
in company with some of Concord and some of Lancaster : and 
they coming to Grauton your petitioners there killed an Indian, and 
hath received no wages from the Country for any service that he 
hath done : notwithstanding he hath been out upon the same acc't 
severall times both the Last sumer and the Last winter, and is now 
going out againe under the Command of Leift. Curtis. 

Your Petitioner therefore humbly requests the favor of your 
Honors to consider the premises and to grant him an order to the 
Treasurer for his satisfaction according as the Law allows in that 
case — so shall he be ever engaged to pray, &c. 

Daniell Addams. 

The above petition is marked on the back "21 April, 
1676." 

Alse Woods aged forty years testifieth and saith that at Grooton 
upon the day that the most of the town was burnt by Indians : she 
heard severall say, that Daniell Adams had killed an Indian : and 
she went presently into Mr. Willards Garrit and saw two Indians 



8i 

stand over a dead Indian, about halfe an hour, and then they car- 
ried him away, and further saith not. 

The mark O of Alse Woods. 

Att Groton the 14th of march 1676. 
There was Daniell Adams, whoe was vary helpefull to the towne 
of Groton with som others Lankstar and the said Daniell adams 
did kill one Indan att Mr. Willards garason. 

Witness John Cadye and 
Samuel Woods. 
we whoe see him fall to the ground and not rise againe. 
As witness Nickcolass Cadye. 

Samuell Woodes of Grotten aged about forty years of age witnis 
that he saw tooe indens standing upon Captine parker's iland at 
grotten and danill adams shot at tham, and one of them falle doune 
and the other ran away. 

17 day of 2, month 1676, the mark (~ of Samuel Woodes. 

["Groton Herald," April 24, 1830.] 



David Jeffries writing from Boston, September 16, 1692, 
to Lieutenant Governor John Usher, says that, — 

.. ye j^th j nst a j. njghj- a p os t came to towne fro Majo r Hincksman, 
w cb gave an ace" of about 80 or 100 Indians, y' our scouts had 
made discovery of in y e night siting £» theire fires hammering of 
slugs for theire gunns our scouts was soe neare them y l they could 
see y e Indians & heare them talke, yesterday morning we had news 
y* y e Indians had killd two men at Groton Jera : Bowers is gone 
out w th about 100 men after them. 

The letter is among the manuscripts of the New England 

Historic, Genealogical Society. 

— * — 

Groton Octob r 15 th 1694 

To the Honored Generall Court : 

The humble petition and earnest request of the Inhabitants of 
Groton humbly sheweth ; That whereas we the present survivers 
of this Towne do undei'stand that ourselves either without invoice, 
or according to some former or according to your honours pleas- 
ures are willed & domed for a rate or Levy, a considerable some 
of moneys amounting to 5o lbs ; we therefore being feelingly appre- 
hensive of our utter incapacity, in present circumstances without 
apparent wrong to us ; to pay said sum humbly make bold under 

11 



82 

God to addresse this honored great generall Court, with both our 
humble petition and a discovery of our condition : our petion is 
that we may If it be your honourable pleasure to remitt us our as- 
sessment and not putt us upo further inevitable streights & Miseryes, 
This we humbly petion, and that we may not be thought unjustly 
to withdraw y e shoulder from puting our strength & help to Sup- 
port and cary on the government of theirs our Majestyes, in this 
part of their dominion, and be unwilling to bear our part with the 
rest of their Majestyes Subjects on this New England shoar as we 
have constantly & proportionably heitherto done and as arguments 
and Reason to prevail in this case, we make bold to spread our 
conditio before your honored selves : not to run back very farr 

i It pleased God the disposer of all men & humane affairs to 
place us upon y e outward borders of y e inhabited land on this side 
y e country, which by some is alledged as an argument against us, 
yett lett Reason butt speak & the union and communion not onely 
of naturall, but Christian Societyes have its argument and it will 
tell us of bearing one another's burdens, and of that Smpathetick 
property that is a naturall body & rationally ought to be both in 
cyvill & politick also : and therefore whatever our alledged privi- 
ledges are, or have bin, we ought not to be Grudged them, for 
indeed our out edge & Distant Living hath bin in these times of 
late awfull dealing our hurt & damage both as to |>sons & estates 
beyound parrelell with any inward Townes, as plaine & undeniable 
Reason & argument is ready to be given. 

2 The providence of y e wise God, did order it That very griev- 
ous troublesome and mortall sicknesse, was amoungt us the last 
year by wh we were not onely leasoned considerably in our num- 
bers, but deminished in our estates It being so generall That one 
could not help y e other by w c h great charge of Doct r s came upo 
us, losse of y e Seasonable Labour of our inhabitants, to the indam- 
aging the estates of y e most, unrecovered by many to this day. 

3 we might add our constant (in these late times) standing upon 
our guard, and considerable charge, of building & repairing forts, 
for our owne and the countryes safty, & securing their majestyes 
subjects, both here, and in the inmost places. 

4 This years soar and awfull troubles by y e late deaths captivi- 
tyes and consequent meseryes, whereby we lost severall able valu- 
lbe psons, whose estates are either, much lessened, or removed 
by others, out our reach : beside by inevitable losse of come, It is 
Judged by many of our Towne that a third part at lest of our 
Indian corne, is wholy lost ; and now of late psons have bin hen- 



83 

dred much in their corne, & hay harvest, beside the hand of God 
upon our husbandry, as to rye much blasted, not halfe a usuall 
crop and by early frost, Indian corne much hurt, & damnified, that 
severall familyes will be at a losse for corne, not having for halfe 
y e year through : Thus Leaving our petion & condition to your 
honours serious consideration hoping you may see, reason to in- 
dulge us in that matter praying to God who setts amoung y e god 
to threct, & preside, and blesse, your psons & consultations to con- 
clude & determine what may be for y e present & future weal & 
prosperity, of these plantation, we rest & remaine yours in all duty 
& service. 

James Parker Sen r : William Laken Sen r . Select men in the 
name of y e Select men by y e voat of y e Towne of Groton. 
[Massachusetts Archives, CXin. 89.] 

Upon reading this Petition of the Inhabitants of Groton Sitting 
forth their great distress and impoverishm* by reason of the deso- 
lations made upon them by the Enemy Praying to be Eased and 
abated of their proportion to the last publick Tax or Assessm! 
amounting to the sum of Fifty pounds. 
Voted, 

That the said Town be abated one halfe of the afores* Sum of 
Fifty pounds, and that Mf Treasurer Do Suspend the calling for 
the other halfe until the Fifteenth day of December next. The 
Assessor! forthwith to proportion the same upon their Inhabitants 
and to commit the List thereof unto their Constables, that so they 
may be collecting. 

Octob r 22* 1694: Past in the affirmative by the house of Repre- 
sentatives and sent up to his Ex cy and Council for Consent 

Nehemiah Jewet speaker 

Votl a concurrence in Council, die pdict. 

1st Addington Secry. 
[Endorsed] 

Vote for abatement to Groton. Oct! 1694. 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxin. 97.] 



-♦- 



Governor William Stoughton writes from Boston, Septem- 
ber 5, 1695, to Captain James Converse, that 

" I order That at your next passing over Merrimack with your 
Company towards Dunstable &c That you advise with Ma£ Hench- 
man and Ml Jon? Ting concerning the posting yo r men in the sev- 
eral Frontiers of Dunstable, Bilrica Chelmsford Groton, Lancaster 



8 4 

and Marlboro for the better inforcem' of the Garrisons there & 
maintaining a good brisk Scout for the discovery of the Enemy to 
prevent their annoying of those Towns during the Harvest Sea- 
son." 

In accordance with this order, eight men were posted at 
Groton. Soon afterward, nine were posted here, of which 
seven were inhabitants of the town. 



Captain James Converse writes from 

"Woobourne (7 b . r y p - 7' h 1696) 

" May it pleas your Hon" 

" The subscriber receiving a letter from your Hony of y e . first 
Courant, and therein, a Comand to wait upon your Hon 1 ! y e . next 
day in ordf to receive some further Instructions, referring to a 
Journey to Groaton, to speak with some Volunteers &c : I was also 
ordered to take Cap! Bowers & U. Crosby with me to Groaton, but 
I hearing their scouts had discovered sundry tracks of the Enemy, 
I suposed those men might be in y* Woods with their scouts, and 
so it proved, for this reson I took with me Cap" Thof Bancroft of 
Redding, and only one soldier with vs, we came to Groaton on 
fryday morning (the time y* I was ordered to be there) where I 
mett with M' Daniel Fitch & his second and y e rest of their Vol- 
unteers all but two or 3 Indians, y 4 left them (by force) in y e morn- 
ing, pretending to returne horn." .... 

[Massachusetts Archives, LI. 44, 68.] 



To the Honored Luten"' Govern' the Honored Councill and Re- 
presentitives In the Court Assembled : The humble petition of the 
towne of Groton by orderly warning mett upon octob r the 4 th 1697 
then voating (after Serious discourse upon the present times & 
awfull circumstances of them and our gticular immergencys) our 
dislike of the present help granted to us as we are grieved att y e 
management & oversight of it : & voating that capt" e James Parker 
and Ensigne John Farnsworth should be our Agents to present and 
promote this petition of ours by such discourse as might be need- 
full in our behalfe att the Court. Honored Sirs : We being in 
some measure necessitated (by the constancy and Long continuance 
of the righteous hand of Almighty God upon us) to know more 
experimentally the troubles concomitant and consequent of bloody 
& cruell warr, Then by Sympathy it can be possibly knowne by 



§5 

others ; And that by Reason our stages & dwellings happene to be 
upon y e very dint, brinck & in y e mouth of more unavoidable diffi- 
cultyes, fears dangers & death by the cruell sword of the wilder- 
nesse, then many others are or can be, Therefore as we apprehend 
the case to stand with us, being diminished in our numbers, and 
greatly impoverished in our out wards, desirous as we hope in meas- 
ure we have done to be constantly putting up our petitions to the Lord 
of hosts and God of armyes to afford us conduct & Assistance every 
way so we would not wanting to cry to & humbly call upon our 
Moses & Aaron to give us advise & to extend their helping hand 
who if any are, we are in the wildernesse where y r is Scorpions and 
subtle Finny Serpents mortally wounding and killing of us as your 
Honor d Selves hear by Rumour upon Rumour, but we not onely 
hear butt feel see & woefully experience the same. Honored Sirs 
we desire with all gratitude and thankfullnesse to acknowledge your 
fatherly care of us hitherto, Butt yett we for our parts If still we must 
abide in the Front. We beg If it may seem good in your eyes that 
we may be Released from countrey charges to his Majesty or in 
plaine words countrey Rates & that we may be pleasured with 
some sutable proportion of souldiers not of ourselves which if we 
may be worthy once more to obtaine we have agreed not to sell them 
away for men of ourselves as we wickedly did. The way of a 
changable scout we thought might do us a kindnesse, which if it 
had bin with good inspection & management attended It might 
have done It hath appeared to us more wayes than one that gitting 
y e Money hath bin more aimed at the carefull ordering, or doing 
the worke to earn it hath bin ; we beg that If for this Autumnal & 
winter season you may soe meet to order y e chargable scout that it 
may be no lesse the 12 : & that it it may be putt into a carefuller & 
honester hand then it hath bin both for the place & benifit of this 
poor Towne we are able if called thereto to Alledge sufficient 
Argum nt that if we have the same or other souldiers It is a thing 
requisite that some other gson might Inspect them 

Thus craving pdone for our boldnesse wishing y e Lord to be your 
president in all publike matters that maybe before you we humbly 
subscribe our selves yours in all obedience & loyalty 

Simon Stone ) c 1 

Thomas Tarbell > 
Samuel Parker ) 

Eliezar Parker 

Oct . 15^ 1697. Read Constable of Groton 



86 

[Endorsed] Oct. 97 

Voted In y e house of Representatives 
In answer to sd petition. That they are Eased in this Last tax as 
they desired : & as to y e Scout y* they Judg it needfull y* Six of 
their owne Souldiers be Imployed dayly : & y* y e comand r in cheif 
put in a sutable pson to Inspect y e same 

Sent up for Concurrence 

Penn Townsend Speaker 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxx. 360, 361.]. 



For an account of a Court Martial, held at Groton, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1706-7, see "The New England Historical and 
Genealogical Register," x. 243-5. The original is in the 
Massachusetts Archives, li. 153, 154. 



on a lecter day. Groton July. 9. 1707 
May it plese your Excelency I have Read your Excelencyes 
order to y e Inhabitants and the law against deserting the frontiers, 
I could do it no sooner for several of the inhabitants ware gon to 
plainfield and Returned yesterday, only two stayd behind; S r one 
of those that designe to Remove is the Barer & a selectman and 
lives on the outsid the Towne. I thought good to send him, who 
can aquaint your Excelencey who is Removed & who are medi- 
tating the same. 

Cap' Bulkely & ^ his men are gon to Lancaster and the other 
halfe here, and do Expect a Relece thay being men of concidrable 
husbandrey ; y e most of them, all y e people that will worke in Com- 
paneys have gards to Cover them to their Content, if your Excel- 
encey Plese I should very glad of a Relie ; I am your 

Excelences most Humble 

Servent Josiah Parker 
To His 

Excelencey The 

Gouvoner att 
Roxbury 
On Her Maj ts Service 

Groton July 9. 1707. 
May it please yo r Excy. 

According to yo r Excyes Comands wee have sent an account of 
those that are either actually remov'd, or meditating of it. Our Peo- 
ple are reduc'd to that degree that they find themselves unable to 



87 



subsist any long' Would pray your Excy either to grant Liberty for 
their Remove or that they may be reduc'd here intirely to a Garri- 
son (of the Towne militia) for the pr e serving the frontiers ; wee 
thankfully acknowledge your Excyes great Care of us hitherto, and 
would pray the Continuance of your Regards, without which wee 
are an undon people Wee take leave to subscribe 
(may it please yo r Excy) 

Your Excys most obed* Serv'f 

Joseph Lakin 
John Farnsworth l o i f Town clarck 

Jonathan Boidon > 

•4 t i men 

Joseph JLakin j 



John Ston 
Jonathan Pag 
Nathanill Woods 
Danill lawranc 
John Shattnck 
Nathanill Parker 
Benimin Lakin 
Jonathan boidon 
John huchin 
Zachariah Lawranc 
Edman Chamberlin 
John Hall 
Samuell Shattuck 
Zerrubbubl Kamp 
Zachariah Sartwall 
John Gilson 
Abraham lakin 
Josiah lakin 
Joseph Lakin 
William Lakin 
William Shattuck 
John Farnsworth 
of the persons that are 



Grotton July ye 9 day 1707 
Joseph Paraham 
Samuill Davis 
Danill Cadein 
John Cadein 
John hoare 
Samuill Farnsworth 
Joseph Boidon 
Josiah Whetney 
Corenallus Whitney 
Joseph lawranc 
Ebenezer Nutting 
of persons gon 



a consedring of going 



Joseph Lakin ) g . 

John Farnworth > 
Jonathan Boidon ) ' en 
[Massachusetts Archives, cxni. 41S, 419, 420.] 



Joseph Lakin 

Town clarck 
for Groton 



88 

Sir, 

The Enemy being drawn off & the Season of Danger pretty 
well over, Yon must forthwith see that the Soldiers in the Frontiers 
be reduced to the following Numbers ; Viz, Twenty five Men at 
Dunstable & Dracut, Ten at Turkey Hills, Fourteen at Groton, 
Fourteen at Lancaster, Twenty five at Rutland & ten at Brookfield, 
& That all the Rest of the Soldiers in the Counties of Middlesex & 
Essex Including L' Brentnals Scouts be forthwith disbanded : And 
the several officers are required to put these Orders in Execution 
accordingly. 
[To] Coll. Tyng. 
Oct. 20, 1725. 
[Massachusetts Archives, lxxii. 263.] 



May it Please your Honour 

I had Desired Lieu* Lawrence to order a Scout to Pequage [Athol] 
before I Rec"? your Honours Letter which he had Done & from 
thence to Northfield tho none was Placed at Pequage but in as 
much as Pequage Does not appear more Exposed to the Enemy if 
so much as several other Places between y! rivers merimack and 
Connetticut that are within this Province and I apprehending your 
honour might not be so well acquainted with the curcomstances of 
these Frontiers I Did not order y? Lieu 1 to Place but ten men at 
Pequage for if fifteen had been sent there other places must 
have been left so naked that no Scouting Could have been Done 
which I am sencable was yf Courts Disigne but if what I have 
ordered Should not be agreeable I should be Glad to know your 
Honours mind. I find it is Difficult to satisfie the People with so 
few men in so long a Frontier but shall take y e . best Care I can so 
far as I am concern? to give orders for Every thing to be Done that 
your Honour Shall think best but if Possible I think best to keep 
out all y e . new Plantations in this Province but I am afraid that 
thirty men is not sufficient. So with Great Regard, I remain your 
Honours most Humble and obedient Servant to Command. 

William Lawrance 
To y" Hon^! e Spencer Phips Esq? 

Groton July y e . 29 : 1755 
[Massachusetts Archives, liv. 521.] 



8 9 



Representatives to the Geizeral Court. 

The following names are not found, according to Butler's 
" History," in the town records, and the authority for the 
names is given with each one : — 

683. Captain James Parker, "Massachusetts Records," v. 421. 
708. * Mr. John Farns worth, " Weekly News-Letter," May 31. 

714. Mr. John Farnsworth, ,, ,, ,, 

715. * Mr. Thomas Tarbell, „ „ May 30. 

717. Mr. John Shepley, ,, ,, June 3. 

718. Captain John Shipley, ,, ,, June 2. 

719. Captain John Shipley, Neal's " Hist, of N. E.," 11. 377. 
732. -j- Nathaniel Sartel, Esq., "Weekly Rehearsal," June 12. 
740. f Mr. John Longley, " Weekly News-Letter," June 5. 
743. William Lawrence, Esq., ,, ,, May 30. 
750. {not represented), ,, ,, J un e 4. 
754. William Lawrence, Esq., "Jour, of House of Rep.," p. 4. 



There are several tunes — at least five — called Groton, 
to be found in some of the old singing-books. They differ 
in music and in words, and are generally of different metres. 
The earliest that I have been able to find is one, in common 
metre, in Jacob Kimball's "Rural Harmon)'," published in 
1793, at Boston. In Laws's "Harmonic Companion" 
(Philadelphia, copyrighted 1807) is a long-metre tune of 
this name. In "The Choir" (Boston, 1833), by Lowell 
Mason, another one, in particular metre, is given; and in 
the " Massachusetts Collection of Psalmody " (Boston, 1840), 
by George J. Webb, is still another, in long metre. A sing- 
ing-book, entitled "Indian Melodies," was published in New 
York, in 1845, which contains a tune called Groton. The 
compiler of the work was Thomas Commuck, an Indian, 
and he claims that all the tunes in it, as well as the names, 
are Indian. This is a mistake, certainly so far as it relates 
to this name, — unless, perchance, it may have been adopted 
from the English. 

* "Those that have this mark (*) are new ones." 
t Not members during the preceding year. 



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